


Controlling the Urge

by Narasa99



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, F/M, Molly Weasley Bashing, Multi, Non-Consensual Touching, Possessive Behavior, Ron Weasley Bashing, Slow Burn, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:15:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25762732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narasa99/pseuds/Narasa99
Summary: When Hermione wakes up with new abilities, she must learn to control them, or they will control her.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Multi, Hermione Granger/Remus Lupin
Comments: 38
Kudos: 173





	1. How it all began

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter stories or characters. They are all the property of J.K Rowling and her associates. This is all just for fun, so please enjoy!

_So this is my first attempt at writing a HP fic (though I read them regularly). Hopefully people enjoy it._

_Many thanks to my Beta AstraBlack for proofreading my writing and being there to bounce ideas off of, it's such a relief to be able to share ideas and talk through all this with someone!_

******************************************************************************************

Her stomach clenched, the urge to go to them was overwhelming. She was grateful that they were willing to help her, but she’d hoped to go into this with no commitment, no expectation, just scratching an itch. Those sad green eyes haunted her though, held her back. How had it all ended up like this………

It had all started weeks ago, although it felt like months. She woke up sweating, bleary eyed; nothing would focus properly. She remembered that someone had called for Madam Pomfrey, they sounded scared; what had happened? She should get up and check. Strong hands pushed her back down on the bed, telling her to lie still, why did she have to stay in bed? Before she could think further everything went black again.

When she regained her senses, she was in the peace and quiet of the Hospital wing, soft cotton sheets surrounding her. At least her head seemed clearer, but she felt awful, like she’d eaten too much sugar and was having a crash. She groaned, and heard hurried footsteps coming towards her.

“Ah, welcome back to the world of the living Miss Granger!” the kindly voice of Madam Pomfrey preceded her appearance in Hermione’s line of sight.

“What happened? Why am I here?” Hermione asked, trying to look around her for some clues.

Madam Pomfrey looked sheepish, “Stay calm for now dear, Professor McGonagall will be here soon, and she’ll explain everything.” She patted Hermione on the shoulder shuffling around with some bottles on the bedside table, before turning back with a spoon filled with a thick pink coloured liquid.

“Now, take this then settle down and rest, all will become clear soon.”

Hermione cautiously took the spoon and swallowed down the medicine. Madam Pomfrey nodded and with a last smile, she bustled back to her office, leaving Hermione feeling more confused than when she woke up.

She didn’t have to wait long for further information. She heard the sound of the Hospital Wing door creaking open and officious footsteps marching down her bed before McGonagall came into view. Trailing in her wake came a serene looking Professor Dumbledore, who gave Hermione a kind smile.

“Ah Miss Granger, I’m glad you’re awake. You gave us all quite the scare!” came the gentle voice of Dumbledore.

McGonagall remained silent and seemed to be looking through Hermione as though searching for something in particular. After a brief silence, she seemed to come to some conclusion.

“I’m glad you are well Miss Granger, but we must discuss what happened. What do you remember?” she stared expectantly at Hermione waiting for an answer.

Hermione’s forehead creased in concentration, she explained her experiences of waking up in a sweat and then waking up here.

“And you don’t recall feeling unwell prior to waking up this morning? No loss of concentration at odd times, no stomach pains, unusual urges?”

“No Professor, I’ll admit I’ve been a bit unfocussed of late with my own studies, trying to make sure Harry and Ron are ok with their work, but nothing truly unusual.”

She looked at McGonagall and Dumbledore, seeing if there were any clues from their expressions as to what this was about. Nothing, McGonagall was like granite and Dumbledore stood there with his grandfatherly twinkle, but nothing else.

“Professor, Headmaster, what is wrong? I’m sure if I’ve overworked myself then you wouldn’t be here visiting?”

McGonagall sighed and summoned a chair to sit down next to Hermione. She glanced back at Dumbledore who nodded at her, glanced at Hermione and gave her a small smile and then walked away.

“Miss Granger….Hermione…I ask these questions as what has happened to you is highly unusual. We haven’t seen anything like this at Hogwarts in my time as professor, although it’s not unheard of to occur. I have heard tales of it happening at other schools, Beauxbatons especially has had it happen a few times, I believe Ilvermorny had it 30 years ago; I digress.” She seemed to take a deep breath and sigh it out.

Hermione fidgeted, frustrated at the long-windedness of this conversation. McGonagall glanced up and seemed to understand Hermione’s frustration. She seemed to steel herself, straighten her shoulders and looked at Hermione.

“Miss Granger, my dear girl, have you ever heard of a conduit?” she looked at Hermione expectantly.

Hermione grimaced, sorting through all her reading since she’d come to Hogwarts and coming up with a blank. She shook her head, frowning.

“Unless you mean for use with electricity then no Professor, that is not a term I have ever come across in my readings. What does this have to do with me? Is there one at Hogwarts? Did I accidentally touch it one day? Is it leaking somewhere? Who else is sick?” It all came out in a rush of questions, before McGonagall put her hand up to indicate Hermione should calm.

“I am unsurprised that you have not heard the term, they are very rare, so rare in fact that the knowledge has been mostly lost by our society. Magical Britain has not witnessed a conduit in over a century, and back then, communication was so poor between communities, only those who lived in large wizarding collectives would have even been aware it occurred. Countries guard conduits carefully so the knowledge of their occurrence in other countries are not well publicised unless you know what to read.”

She took a breath, letting Hermione take in what she’d just said.

“Miss Granger, much like with an electrical conduit, a magical conduit encourages a flow of power, protecting and directing it in a particular way. Magical conduits are a boon to those around them, especially their life mates. They can help even the weakest magic wielder to strengthen their power by funnelling it to a more focused point, helping them gain control, and maximising the strength of their casting. It’s no wonder your own magic is so powerful and so focussed, you’ve naturally used this skill on your own reserves without realising it.”

Hermione lay in her bed trying to take this in. She’d always known people were surprised by her power and control, that it was perceived as unusual, and for some people, unwelcome, that she as muggleborn was able to wield such Magic. Did this explain it all? Was she this ‘conduit’ that Professor McGonagall talked about? She realised that McGonagall was sat watching her quietly while she processed. She refocused and looked at her trusted professor.

“So this ‘conduit’ thing, I’m one of these? What does this mean? Will it change anything?” Fear started to bubble in her chest. Would she have to leave Hogwarts? Would she have to stop her studies? They were so close to their NEWTS now; she couldn’t stand the idea that she wouldn’t be able to finish her studies.

McGonagall fiercely shook her head. “No dear, you’ll be able to complete your education.”

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived.

“But…there will be changes that will have to be made. We had to contact the ministry, this isn’t something we can keep under our eaves, it’s too important; **you** are too important for this to remain a secret. Once people know what you are, you will understand the changes we impose are for your own good.”

“What changes need to be made Professor? If I’m allowed to continue studying here, then they can’t be that drastic, surely?” She prayed they would be daft little things like specific clothes, or even just a badge, maybe ‘ _steer clear, I’m a conduit!’_.

McGonagall’s shoulders dropped and she winced.

“You need to understand Miss Granger, what you are, what you are capable of, is sought after. When people find out, they will want you for their own. You can bring a strength to the magic of those whose own power source is minimal that they would have never dreamed of. Those that are weak will want you for what you can enable them to do; those that are powerful may well want you for nothing more than a prize they can hold over the heads of others.”

“I know who my friends are, Professor. I’m not some naive girl whose head will be turned by sudden flattery from a new source!” she said hotly, honestly, what sort of girl did she think she was?!

“I know my dear, and normally I would agree with you. You are a sensible young lady, and you’ve always been wise in your dealing with others, even if you are a mite brash at times?” she stated arching an eyebrow in Hermione’s direction. Hermione had the grace to blush and nod slightly to acknowledge her character fault, Harry and Ron having corrected her habit enough times for her to be conscious of it.

“What I need you to understand is, your reaction this morning is telling. You understand the process of a young ladies menstrual cycle correct?” Hermione nodded, wondering where this was going.

“Well, similar to the large hormone flux of your menstrual cycle in your early adolescence, your power as a conduit is starting to flux. This signifies that you are reaching your full potential, you are now a true conduit, but with that comes downsides. You will seek out power, you will gain vigor in the strength of others, but from what I have researched, it will be like a drug for you. Feeling the magic of another surge through your own is very appealing. Even for those of us who are not conduits, the combining of one’s power with another’s in the marriage bonding is quite the experience. For you to be able to experience this increased tenfold whenever you choose is inconceivable to me.”

Hermione stilled, “Are you saying that conduits have become addicted to this power? If that is the case, then surely I can just ignore it, not use it. I have no interest in becoming some addled addict waiting for my next hit.” She crossed her arms to make her point clear.

McGonagall looked at her sadly, “Dear girl, you don’t understand, you won’t have a choice. Your powers will push you to do this, if you ignore it, the need will get stronger until you are forced to act. This is what we are concerned about. You are so controlled, so determined to forge your own path and make your own decisions that you may be your own worst enemy in this situation.”

“So you’re saying I should just start, what, ‘ _conduiting’_ for my friends all over the school so that I have control of it?” She grimaced; this was all becoming a bit too much.

The animagus shook her head, “No dear, what I’m saying is that you need to accept this, let it become one with you, don’t try and fight it. I would certainly not recommend you just go about using your new ability to help anyone you choose, that won’t help you and it won’t help them as everyone needs to understand the limit of their own powers. Putting an athlete on steroids will never allow for a true reflection of what they are capable of, as plugging someone’s magic into a booster will never allow them to present their true self.”

Hermione nodded, understanding the simile. “So what changes are going to be made? How will this work.”

“Well, you will need opportunities to control your power. Professor Dumbledore is searching for someone with more detailed knowledge on Conduit’s but until we find someone, we’re going to have to go with what we know. You can attend your classes as normal, but you must be conscious of your power. With your magic in flux, you may find that some days your power will be weaker than normal, and other days it will be far stronger, so you must remain controlled.”

She took a breath and Hermione filed the information for processing later.

“You will need to find someone you trust that can sit with you and allow you to practice your conduit abilities. I would probably recommend Mr Potter over Mr Weasley, I fear that Mr Weasley would not have the patience for it while you attempted to manage your abilities. Mr Potter would be far more likely to be sympathetic to the challenges involved.” 

Hermione nodded again, agreeing with the Professor's observation. She loved Ron, but he struggled to sit still for long periods of time, and would probably spend more time teasing her about finally struggling with something than actually helping her develop her skill. 

“So how do I act as ‘ _conduit’_ to someone's power? Do I just suck it up when they do a spell, do I just touch them?” 

McGonagall seemed thoughtful. “Everything I have read states that the conduit must be touching for the connection to be made to the witch or wizard they’re supporting. This doesn’t always seem to be for the purpose of something in particular, sometimes it is just the connection between the two and the sharing of power, but touch is always involved.”

“Ok, so hold Harry’s hand and try and ‘connect’ to his power, see if his power will increase?” she nodded to herself. “Professor, I hate to ask, but we may need somewhere suitable for this practice to occur, I doubt you want us doing this in the Gryffindor common room.”

“Yes, Professor Dumbledore has allowed you to use one of the unused classrooms on the 5th floor to practice. The house elves have cleaned it out and placed some comfortable chairs in there for you both to use.” McGonagall stood up, smiling slightly at how well this conversation had gone.

“Miss Granger, I cannot express how serious it is that you keep this to yourself. I would encourage you to keep this information to only those friends you know can keep it secret for now. The longer we can keep this under wraps the more time you will have to adjust to your new skills without the added harassment of interested parties.” she looked grave for a moment. “I fear that once this is known, you may find your life in the castle becomes a mite uncomfortable, but Professor Dumbledore and I will do everything we can to mitigate any harassment from less than savory characters who take an inordinate amount of interest in you and your newly found abilities.”

“Thank you Professor, I understand, and I appreciate yours and the Headmasters offer of help.” she smiled at McGonagall. 

“It is no bother dear, now remember what I have said. Keep this quiet, talk to Mr Potter about having him help you practice. If he doesn’t feel he is able, you are welcome to talk to another of your trusted friends, but if you have any concerns, please go to the headmaster or myself and we will endeavour to assist you..” With that, she walked away, towards the door of the Hospital Wing, Professor Dumbledore coming out from Madam Pomfrey's office to follow. 

The matron bustled back over to Hermione and assured her that she would be able to go back to her dorm after lunch. The brunette nodded absently, trying to take in everything she’d heard this morning. How had it come to this? She groaned and lent back in her bed, hands pulling down across her face and she closed her eyes. After lunch she’d talk to Harry and they’d work on this together. There must be a book in the library somewhere about this surely….


	2. Feeling a buzz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Beta reminded me that I should say when this is set in terms of the books. This is set during HBP, but Sirius survived the fight at the ministry, although not unscathed.  
> My thanks to AstraBlack for being there to talk through my writing and to flag gaping flaws in continuity, I couldn’t do this without her!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter stories or characters. They are all the property of J.K Rowling and her associates.
> 
> I hope you all continue to enjoy the story!

Hermione pushed the portrait open quietly, hoping to slip in unnoticed after lunch. No such luck.

“Hermione!” Harry ran towards her and immediately engulfed her in a hug.

“Are you ok? What happened? We were all really shaken up when you were levitated out this morning!” His eyes started looking over her, checking for any obvious signs that something was wrong.

“I’m fine Harry, thank you. It’s ok, I was just a bit unwell, but Madam Pomfrey has given me a clean bill of health and let me come back.” She gave him a small smile, and hoping he’d let it go for now.

Harry didn’t seem convinced, he looked like he was about to say more when they were interrupted by a loud redhead.

“‘Mione!” Ron charged forward to stand in front of her. “Where did you go this morning? Harry said you were sick?”

“Yes Ron, I was sick, so I went where sick people usually go, the Hospital Wing.” she held back from rolling her eyes, barely. 

“Well you look fine now, wasn’t much then was it. All this drama in here today you’d think you were dying.” Ron gave her a solid pat on the shoulder, glanced at Harry and wandered back over to the corner of the common room, where he promptly started eating whatever it is he’d managed to sneak up from lunch.

Harry caught Hermione’s eye and winced, Hermione just sighed.

“Teaspoon Harry, Teaspoon.” They both shook their heads and moved to a sofa to sit down and talk. 

“Are you sure you’re ok ‘Mione? That wasn’t nothing this morning. The girls said that some of them tried to hold you still because you were thrashing about and they were getting little static shocks.” Harry’s green eyes seemed to see into her, trying to find the truth.

“Harry, we need to talk, but not here. I’ve got to wait for Professor McGonagall to confirm something and then we’ll talk ok? Please trust me, I’ll be fine, but we’ll discuss this later.” She looked at him beseechingly.

“Alright, but I’m not letting this go. You will tell me what’s going on later! Now come on, we’ll be late for class if we don’t head out now.” Harry stood up, holding out his hand for Hermione. 

Without thinking, Hermione took his hand and immediately felt a buzz, like a small current running between them. It made her hand fizz and her body shiver. She yelped and let go of his hand quickly. 

Harry stood stock still staring between her and his hand. 

“Hermione. What was that?” he asked carefully,eyebrows drawing together in confusion.

“Nothing Harry, leave it. We’ll talk later, just… Don’t talk about it for now. I’ll explain when we’re alone.” 

Harry nodded and headed for the door, so Hermione picked up her bag and followed him to class. It was going to be a long afternoon.

************************************************************

When they walked out of History of Magic, Professor McGonagall was waiting for her. 

“Miss Granger, a minute if you please?” she gestured to the corridor a little away from the classroom door.

Hermione glanced back at Harry and Ron quickly.

“We’ll see you in Defence Hermione, I’ll say you were held up.” Hermione thanked Harry before they walked off to their next class. Hermione stepped over to Professor McGonagall quickly.

“Miss Granger, we have organised the classroom for your use as of this evening. It is room 512 near the picture of the Unicorns at play. Do you know where that is?”

Hermione nodded, “Yes, I’ve been down that corridor before, we once had to walk that route to divination when Peeves started throwing green paint at all the Gryffindors taking the usual corridor. Thank you for taking the time to organise this space for us.”

“It’s no problem Miss Granger, but please remember that you must be back in your common room before 11. I don’t want you losing track of time and drawing attention to yourselves due to late nights.” she looked stern, waiting for agreement from Hermione. After seeing the acknowledgement, she handed Hermione a late slip to hand in when she arrived at her next class and marched off down the corridor to her own office.

Hermione watched her go for a minute before glancing down at the slip, shrugging and walking off in the direction of class. 

Walking into the back of the room quietly, she saw that Professor Snape was already in full flow. She quickly sat down at the nearest empty chair to avoid notice before realising her mistake.

Looking to her right, the disgusted face of Draco Malfoy was staring at her like she’d just announced she was going to ban all wands. Inwardly cursing her bad luck, she did a one shoulder shrug in his direction before focussing back on the front of the class.

Five minutes later, Professor Snape set some work on the board for the class and strolled towards her.

“Miss Granger, how kind of you to attend my class, eventually.” he sneered.

“My apologies Professor Snape. Professor McGonagall wished to speak to me urgently. She has provided a late slip.” She quickly handed over the signed form. 

Professor Snape snatched it out of her hand, giving it a quick glance, glancing at her and with a judgemental sniff in her direction, turned and walked back to the front of the class. 

Hermione leant over to get her quill and parchment from her bag, dislodging a book on to the floor between her and Draco. 

Before she could stop him, he’d leant over with a smirk to grab it. Hermione quickly tried to reach for it, but ended up placing part of her hand on his as they both tried to take control of the book.

Electricity zapped through her hand and up her shoulder, making her gasp. She went to draw her hand back, but Malfoy made a grab for her thankfully clothed wrist. 

“What was that Granger.” he said quietly, anger evident in his voice. His hand tightened painfully on her wrist. She gasped and tried to pull away, but he just held on tighter.

“I don’t know Malfoy, let me go.” 

“No, Granger, I want to know what that was. That wasn’t normal, what did you do to me?” He said, trying to pull her closer.

“Nothing. I didn’t do anything to you, I promise. Let me go!” She tugged hard and managed to get her arm back.

“Is there a problem here?” came a voice from next to the desks, making them both jump.

She spun around on her seat to see Professor Snape looking between them both, a calculating look in his eyes.

“No professor, nothing is wrong here. Malfoy mistook my text book for his own. I was just explaining that his is still in his bag.” she answered hurriedly.

Glancing over at Malfoy who was too busy staring at her thoughtfully to process her story to Professor Snape. He just made an affirmative sound and continued staring.

“Well, as this seems to have been resolved, I will ask that you stop squabbling over books and proceed with the work set. If you have not completed this by the end of the lesson I will ensure you complete it this evening in detention.” he raised his eyebrows to make clear his threat would be happily executed.

“Yes Professor, I’m sorry. We will be finished on time.” she answered politely before making a point of opening her text book to start her work.

“Mr Malfoy”, Malfoy jumped and stared up at Snape, surprised at his presence.”Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes Professor, perfectly.” he stated quickly, before looking around to try and establish where his text book was.

When Professor Snape had walked to the front, Malfoy talked quietly for only Hermione to hear.

“I will find out what that was Granger, don’t tell me it was nothing, that was not nothing.”

Hermione glanced at him, caught him staring at her angrily.

“Just leave it Malfoy, it’s none of your concern.” she muttered staring back down at her book.

A huff from her right was her only reply. 

*********************************************************

“What was going on with you and the ferret earlier ‘Mione?”, came the garbled, food laden voice of Ron over dinner that evening.

“It was nothing Ron, don’t worry about it. There was just a misunderstanding over a book.”

“It didn’t look like nothing ‘Mione,” came the concerned voice of Harry. “It looked like he got physical with you, are you OK?”

Hermione pulled the wrist in question closer to her stomach, she didn’t want to tell them about the bruise forming there, it wasn’t bad, but there was definitely a mark.

“It’s fine, please don’t worry.” she reassured them. 

Ron accepted this and carried on shoveling his food. Harry continued to look at her with concern. She leaned towards him and quietly muttered.

“Harry, can we talk later please? I need to discuss some things with you.” 

Harry smiled and nudged her with his elbow. “Of course, you know you can talk to me about anything. Ron is playing chess with Seamus later anyway, we can talk then.”

Hermione playfully nudged him back, glad she had someone she could confide in so easily. 

“Thank you. Can you meet me by the Picture of the Unicorns at Play on the 5th floor? 8 o’clock?” 

“Sure Hermione, I’ll see you then.” they smiled at each other and turned back to their dinners. She relaxed a bit in relief. Now she just had to figure out how to explain it to him.

She felt someone's eyes on her, and looked up to see grey eyes staring at her from across the room. Malfoy sneered at her when he realised she was looking before looking down at his own dinner again. A sliver of apprehension ran through her, she knew he wouldn’t forget about today, but hopefully he’d be distracted enough with all the extra work for NEWTS that he wouldn’t have time to dwell in the near future. 

Realising that was a problem for another day, she shrugged it off and focused on enjoying the meal and planning in her head what she was going to tell Harry.

  
  



	3. Uncertain first steps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here’s chapter 3 peeps. I’m glad that you readers seem to be enjoying the story so far, it gives me warm fuzzies to know that you’re happy, so I’ll endeavour to keep you all happy! Apologies about updates being sporadic, my plan is to update on weekdays as I don’t write during the weekend as that’s family time.  
> Regardless, I do plan to update this as much as I am able so please be patient with me!  
> Many thanks to AstraBlack for being my Beta and acting as my sounding board for ideas, she is a life saver!  
> Anyways, without further delay, here is chapter 3:
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter stories or characters. They are all the property of J.K Rowling and her associates. This is all just for fun, so please enjoy!

_5th Floor Corridor - Room 512 - 7:50pm_

The room was set out nicely, forethought had obviously been given to the various needs Hermione might have. A large table and four chairs sat in one corner of the old classroom, perfect for use as a desk for research. In the center sat an old persian rug in reds and golds, scatter cushions placed liberally around the carpeted area, and two comfy looking rust coloured armchairs stood at the edge. Somehow the room had gained an open fire which crackled quietly, and there were some empty shelves in the corner for storage if she needed it. All in all, it was the perfect quiet study space, she would just need to remember not to leave valuables here. Perhaps she should ask Professor McGonagall about ensuring no other students could access it.

As nice as the space was, Hermione still had no idea how she was going to broach the subject of her newfound abilities with Harry. Sure he’d experienced the buzz, just as she had, but she wasn’t sure this was the sort of story you should start half way through. 

The sound of a throat clearing coming from the doorway made her glance in that direction to see Harry standing watching her with an amused expression on his face.

“‘Mione, if you don’t stop pacing, you’re going to wear a hole in that rug before it’s even had a chance to be appreciated!”

Hermione stared at the floor as though looking for damage, having not realised she was even pacing while lost in her own thoughts. Footsteps moved closer to her, and when she looked up Harry was standing at her side smiling kindly. Hermione gave an embarrassed wince and gestured to the chairs for them to sit down in. Harry followed her gesture and took a seat.

“Harry I….”

“So, what was it….”

They both started talking at once before grinding to a halt and staring at one another.

Losing her confidence, Hermione nodded in his direction “You go first Harry.”

Harry shook his head, “No, ‘Mione, you’re the one that wanted to talk, what’s going on? How can I help?”

Hermione sighed and shut her eyes, gathering her confidence.

She looked up at Harry and said in a rush “I’maconduit”

The blank look on Harry’s face was all she needed to know.”Umm..Hermione, I think I need a little more than whatever that was?”

Hermione huffed, trying to bolster her inner Gryffindor.

“Ok, right. That thing this morning, it wasn’t nothing.” She ignored the eye roll from Harry.

“Professor McGonagall came to see me, and explained that I’m this thing called a conduit. I’m somehow able to help people focus their magic, provide a sort of controlled boost that can help people harness their powers. I don’t really know how this works, when you touched my hand this morning, that was the first time I’d felt a reaction and it was completely unintentional.”

Harry nodded along with the information she gave, looking thoughtful as she finished.

“Malfoy touched your hand didn’t he?” Harry lent forward looking serious.

Hermione winced but nodded, looking down at her hands.

“‘Mione, was it the same? Did he notice?” Hermione unconsciously rubbed her wrist and nodded again.

Harry dropped from the chair onto the floor and was on his knees cradling her hand before she’d realised he’d moved. “Did he hurt you?” he asked carefully, brushing her hand away from her wrist and shifting the sleeve up, making sure not to touch the skin. His jaw ticked as he saw the slight purpling bruise of a handprint over her wrist. “I’ll kill that fucking ferret” he ground out.

Hermione tugged her wrist out of Harry’s hand and looked up at him. “Harry it’s fine, please don’t do anything, I think he was just as surprised as you were when I zapped him. He just responded badly to it.” She wasn’t sure why she was defending Malfoy, but this felt like one of those times where an overreaction would do more harm than good. 

“‘Mione, he grabbed you so hard you bruised! How is that ok?” he sounded exasperated and angry. Hermione rubbed his shoulder with her hand, trying to sooth him.

“Harry, now is not the time for that. Yes he was a prick, yes it hurt, but we have bigger things I need your help with right now, so can we please focus!”

Harry seemed to deflate and sat back on his haunches looking at Hermione sadly.

“Fine, ok, but this isn’t over, if he touches you again you need to tell me. Promise me you’ll say something?”

She nodded, “I promise Harry.”

“So, what do we do about all of this, why did Professor McGonagall give you this room?” he peered around to take in all the features.

“Professor McGonagall said I need to try and practice using my new skills, learn to control them so that perhaps they won’t trigger every time someone touches me. We both agreed that I would need someone to help me with it, and that you would be the best person.” she looked at him hopefully.

Harry seemed to droop a bit at this. “But I don’t know the first thing about any of this, what are you expecting me to do?”

“Just be here to help me. Hopefully we’ll find some books to help with research and we have a brilliant place to read over there,” she gestured towards the table. “I need to practice my powers on someone, and you’re patient, and understanding, and hopefully won’t mind a few zaps along the way?” she finished with a cheeky smile.

Harry snorted softly, ‘fine, you’re right. I can’t say no to you ‘Mione, but we will need to be careful. If you don’t know what’s going to happen, the rest of us are doomed. I imagine you have some sort of plan in place already?”

That was all the cue Hermione needed to dig out a sheet of paper from her bag, causing Harry to chuckle.

“Yes, I have a plan.” She smiled as she waved the paper at him, Harry just rolled his eyes and grinned.

“So first we need to establish what we both felt when our hands touched this morning. For me it was a fizz, like if you get a slight charge from an electrical circuit.” she looked at him expectantly.

“It was similar to me, just a bit of a static shock followed by a buzz, like my hand was vibrating slightly.” He watched as Hermione made notes in a notebook that seemed to have come out of nowhere, of course, she would document everything.

“Right, I think we should do some controlled experiments.” she looked at him, but when there was no response she carried on. “I have put specific time frames together, ranging from 10 seconds to 2 minutes. I think we should undertake skin to skin contact for each of these time frames and make notes of the reactions that occur each time. We should ensure there is a refractory period between each session, and perhaps, depending on how we feel after each time, spread the tests out over a couple of evenings?”

Harry just stared at her, he shouldn’t be surprised by the planning that she had put together, and yet, it always seemed to come as a shock when he got caught up in one of her more complex ideas. There was one question he had though,

“Why do we need to be concerned about how we’d feel after each session? What aren’t you telling me.”

Hermione seemed to draw in to herself a bit, a look of irritation crossing her face.

“While McGonagall didn’t have a huge amount of information on Conduits, she told me that apparently _some_ conduits can become...” she stalled for a minute and grimaced, “addicted” she huffed out, making Harry's eyes widen “to the feeling of this connection”. Harry felt his stomach drop at her words, this wasn’t good.

“‘Mione” he started but she interrupted.

“It’s ridiculous, I will not become addicted to this, I have far more self control than that. But for the sake of being cautious I am willing to factor some caution to monitor reactions in the experiments to allow for recovery.” she stated in a tone that would brook no argument.

Harry took a breath, inwardly shaking his head. He knew there was no point in arguing this with her when she was in this mood, he’d just have to make sure he kept an eye on her. Hermione was staring at him waiting to see if he agreed to her plan.

“If this is all we have to go on right now, then we’ll work with it,” he tried to give her a confident smile. “What are we going to do about Ron? Are you going to tell him all of this? You know he’ll be angry if he finds out we’ve left him out.”

Hermione understood his concern, Ron did not respond well to being ignored, and if he felt she was favouring Harry over him they’d just have another of his drama filled tantrums to deal with. On the other hand, she didn’t think he’d be the best person at this stage to be involved.

“I think, for these first few tries it should just be you and I, Harry. Perhaps once we understand it a bit more and we know how the reactions work we could talk to Ron. He can be a good comparison to see if the reaction changes between people.” 

Harry agreed, that seemed like the best way to organise this for now, they’d just need to be careful how they broached the subject with Ron when they talked to him, make sure he didn’t feel like he’d been left out.

“OK, so how are we going to do this? Did you want to start tonight?” He sat up straighter in preparation, Hermione always wanted to get things underway once she’d set her mind to it.

“Yes, so I thought we could both sit on the cushions and once we’re comfortable, I can just place my hand on top of yours. I’ll set a timer on my wand to 10 seconds and then we’ll separate and note the sensations we both felt?” Hermione shifted down off her chair to be next to Harry, who was leaning over to get some of the cushions for them to sit on.

Once comfortable they looked at each other, both trying their best to hide the trepidation of this experiment from the other. 

“Are you ready?” Hermione asked, a slight quiver to her voice, whether from nervousness or excitement, probably both, Harry acknowledged.

“Yes”, he gave her a soft smile and put his hand out in front of him on the floor. “My hand is yours m’lady” he responded with a cheeky grin, dissipating some of the nervousness in the air.

Hermione chuckled quietly, fussing with her wand to set a timer before leaning forward with her hand.

The moment her hand touched his, the fizz was back, Harry sucked in a breath as he felt the tingle in his hand where hers touched, a slight squeak coming from Hermione as she felt the sensations too. At 3 seconds, the buzz had engulfed his whole hand and had travelled to his wrist. It felt like an arcade game he’d once tried where you had to sit in a chair with your hand on a metal rod while the vibrations increased. It was a stupid game where you had to see how long you could hold on for, and at the moment he felt like he was losing.

Hermione could feel the fizz travelling up her arm, a small tingling at the base of her skull that was slightly disconcerting. At 7 seconds Harry squawked and pulled his hand out from underneath hers, cradling it into his chest while he stared at her in slight embarrassment. 

“Sorry! I’m sorry!” he said sheepishly. “I wasn’t expecting it to be like that, give me a moment and we can try again.”

Hermione shook herself as the sensation dissipated from her arm.

“It’s ok Harry, it was an experiment, and perhaps 10 seconds was a bit ambitious for our first try. Maybe I’ll shift the timings to 5 second intervals, shorter bursts might be a better plan for this.” she was already reaching for her notebook and didn’t notice Harry shaking out his wrist and looked at her strangely.

“How are you feeling?” he asked her. She glanced back up at him, notebook in hand.

“Oh me, I’m fine. It was a similar sensation to last time, it just went on for longer. I’m more interested in what you felt? Is your hand ok?”

Harry described the buzz that had started in his hand, ending in enough discomfort that he had to draw his hand away. Hermione nodded absently as he spoke, jotting down notes. When she’d finished writing she looked at him again.

“Are you going to be ok? Do we need to go to the hospital wing? This is a bit of an inauspicious start if we can’t touch longer than 7 seconds.” she frowned down at her notebook again.

“I’ll be fine ‘Mione, but perhaps we should leave it for tonight and head back to the common room? Give me a night to recover and we can try again tomorrow night.” he stood and stretched his back out before leaning slightly and offering Hermione his hand without thinking.

She started reaching for it before stopping herself and arching an eyebrow at him. He pulled his hand back, looking embarrassed. “Right, yeah that’s going to take a while to get used to.” 

Hermione sniggered as she clambered up off the floor, leaning to put her notebook and quill away in her bag before hefting it over her shoulder. “Points for gentlemanly conduct though Harry.” she grinned at him and then turned towards the door.

Behind her he watched her walk towards the exit, a frown marring his features as he looked at his hand again, clenching and unclenching it carefully. He dropped his arm, and with a shake of his head followed after her, trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling gnawing at his chest.

  
  
  
  



	4. Tensing a muscle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has left me such lovely comments for this fic so far. I’ll endeavour to make sure that your support is rewarded!  
> As usual, many thanks to AstraBlack for proofreading my writing, and telling me off appropriately when required!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter stories or characters. They are all the property of J.K Rowling and her associates. This is all just for fun, so please enjoy!

The next day passed in a blur; eating, learning, eating again, private study, and before Hermione knew it, it was time to meet Harry in their study room again. Research in the library didn’t bring up anything in particular on Conduit’s (not at all surprising she guessed). She did find some interesting texts on controlling magical flow though, mostly concerning meditation, and theses on power being very much like a muscle that needed flexing. Something she was already aware of, but it was interesting to see discussions on.

When Harry arrived she was curled up in one of the arm chairs reading a text that proposed strengthening techniques that seemed disturbingly like pelvic floor exercises, Hermione cringed a bit. She glanced up as Harry walked into the room and gave him a gentle smile. Harry's lopsided grin in return helped her to feel a bit less stressed about this evening's experiments.

“Did you have any problems leaving the Common room this evening?” she asked, knowing that his movements were monitored by their housemates more than hers ever were. 

His smile dropped a bit, “Ron was trying to convince me to play wizarding chess, but I managed to distract him with a quidditch discussion. I don’t know how long us both disappearing in the evenings is going to remain subtle ‘Mione, I think we’ll have to tell Ron soon.”

Hermione nodded in understanding, “You’re right. Perhaps we can see how tonight goes and if I can control it a little better we can talk to Ron?”

Harry sat down in the other chair next to her and smiled his ascent to the idea. 

“So what’s the plan for tonight?” he peered over to her book, trying to see what she was reading. Hermione snapped it shut and placed it on her lap, putting her hands on top.

“I’ve been reading some texts on magic strengthening and control, and there are some techniques I’d like to try while we’re touching if that’s ok? I’d like to try five seconds and use some of the control techniques to see if I can make it more comfortable for you.” She moved off her chair to sit on some of the cushions set out on the rug, leaning over to her bag to get her notebook.

Harry slid down next to her and made himself comfortable. 

“Of course, I trust you ‘Mione, if you think you’ve found a solution, it’s worth a try. What do you need me to do?”

“Just to put your hand out like we did yesterday and we’ll see how this goes.” She set the timer on her wand for 5 seconds and looked at Harry. “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” he smiled at her and placed his hand on the cushion ready, a slight tensing of his shoulders the only sign that he was nervous.

Hermione sat up straight, placing one hand on Harry’s and setting the timer with her other. This time, when she felt the buzz start she tried to find a way to pull her magic back a bit and control the buzz. Looking at Harry she could see his eyebrows drawing together looking at his hand, obviously feeling the vibrations from last time. She tried again to pull back on the flow tensing this unseen muscle and felt the buzz move to more of a low level current, trickling up her arm. Harry suddenly looked at her in surprise, but the timer going off caused them to immediately separate their hands.

“Was that you?” He asked, still slightly wide eyed.

“What did you feel?” she asked, leaning over to grab her notebook again.

“It was starting to feel like it did last night, but then suddenly it shifted from the vibration to more of a steady hum. It was definitely a nicer sensation than the buzz. Did you feel it too?” He looked hopeful.

“I was trying everything I could to pull back my power and steady the sensation, towards the end I felt something shift, which must have been when you felt it too.” she smiled and made some notes. “Do you think we could try 10 seconds?” She looked at him pleadingly.

“Sure, if you think you can do that again I shouldn’t have to take my hand away this time.” He placed his hand down on the cushion again, ready to go.

“Great, I’ll set the timer for 10, but if it becomes uncomfortable, break the connection, ok?” She placed the notebook down and set the timer on her wand, glancing at Harry for his assurance. When they were settled, she placed her hand back on his, trying to immediately pull back on the flow once the connection was made.

She felt the buzz start, but then immediately settled into a steady flow. She looked at Harry who smiled back reassuringly. “Can you feel the difference?”

“Yes, ‘Mione, this feels much more comfortable.” 

They both sat, enjoying the feel of the gentle hum of magic travelling between their hands. Hermione tried tensing and relaxing the muscle, experimenting with the flow, until the timer went off signalling they should separate.

“Were you doing something with your magic there?” Harry asked curiously.

“Could you feel that? I was trying to adjust the flow while we were connected, seeing how much I could relax and keep the connection controlled. It didn’t make you uncomfortable did it?”

“No! No, it was fine, it felt different, but it wasn’t painful. Perhaps though, we can leave it for tonight and do some research instead?” he glanced towards the table and the books Hermione had placed there for research.

Hermione looked at him in confusion, “Are you sure you’re ok? Because you just asked to do research.” Hermione climbed up from the floor, grabbing her bag and shifting towards the table. With her back turned she missed Harry awkwardly climbing up from the floor and subtly trying to adjust his jeans before walking over to the table.

********************************

Harry was quiet walking back to the common room an hour later, lost in his own thoughts. Hermione wasn’t much better, but more out of concern for Harry's distractedness than any major concern on her own part.

She snagged his elbow in the corridor before they got to the entrance. “Harry, are you sure you’re ok? You’ve been really quiet since that second experiment?”

He cleared his throat awkwardly and stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking anywhere but at her. “I’m fine ‘Mione. This has just been a lot to take in, you know? I am happy to help you however I can, but to experience what you seem to be able to do is something else. I’ll be fine in the morning, I promise.” He finally glanced up and looked at her smiling gently, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“O…..OK, Harry. But you’d tell me if you didn’t want to do this anymore wouldn’t you?” She looked sad, and he rushed to reassure her.

“It’s fine, please. It’s just,” he stopped and thought for a moment, “the sensation of you changing the flow felt nice..” a blush started to creep up his neck.

Hermione looked at him blankly, “if it’s nice what’s the problem”

“Nice might be the wrong word. It was…” he looked up at the ceiling, “it was pleasurable, OK?”

“Oh! Oh, oh my gosh, I’m sorry!” Now the pair of them looked like beetroots staring at anywhere but each other.

“It’s fine, you didn’t know, just maybe next time don’t play around with the flow quite like that? Perhaps that’s something we can work on too?” Harry looked at the floor now, scuffing the toe of his shoe on the wall next to him.

“Alright, yes, that’s fine. I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable, you know I don’t think of you like that.” her face had fallen and she was pulling in to herself, shoulders hunched in embarrassment. 

“Let’s just put it behind us, don’t worry. It’s another thing we’ve learnt right?” he gave her a half smile and tilted his head towards the door. “Let’s get inside and show our faces?”

Hermione smiled back awkwardly and nodded. “Sure Harry, I’ll make a note and be more careful. I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable.”

Harry opened the portrait door and moved to the side to let Hermione go in before him.

“Oi! Harry, ‘Mione where have you been.” The voice called out the second they appeared in the doorframe.

Harry and Hermione froze and stared at Ron, guilty looks crossing their faces. 

“Ron! Hi, we were ummm…”Harry trailed off

“Studying. We were studying a new idea I had.” Hermione finished.

The interested gleam in Ron’s eyes died on the spot.

“Come on ‘Mione, it’s bad enough you’re a bookworm, don’t go trying to drag him down with you.” 

Hermione rolled her eyes and stomped past Ron towards her dormitory, leaving Harry standing staring at Ron.

“Really Ron, why do you have to say things like that to her, that was unfair. I was helping her out with something.”

Ron walked up to Harry and chuckled, “you helping her? Since when does she need help with anything?” 

Harry looked at him sadly, “Everyone needs help sometimes Ron, stop being such a jerk to her. If you want her to notice you, there are better ways.” And with that, he walked past Ron, barging him in the shoulder as he went.

“What do you mean?” Ron swivelled around to watch him go. “Harry, what better ways??”

***********************************

Hermione met the boys in the common room the next morning, Ron looking sullen and She and Harry awkwardly nodded to each other before going to get breakfast. Ron failed to notice anything due to his sulking, and remained oblivious the entire morning through lessons. While Harry and Hermione talked, there was a stilted quality that they’d need to talk out later, and meant that when Hermione separated to go to Ancient Runes, Harry barely glanced in her direction to say goodbye. He didn’t notice the figure shifting in the shadows to follow her.

Hermione walked along the corridor wrapped up in her own thoughts when a hand grabbed her elbow, pulling her behind a pillar and pushing their body up against hers.

Hot breath brushed against the side of her face as strong hands kept her arms in place. The breath shifted to a voice she knew well. 

_ “Hello Mudblood. _ ”

  
  



	5. Involuntary Responses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, I’d like to thank my Beta AstraBlack for checking over my writing for me.
> 
> Before we go any further, I’d like to add a big TRIGGER WARNING for non-con and assault for this chapter. If these things trigger you, please approach this chapter with caution. You have been warned.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter stories or characters. They are all the property of J.K Rowling and her associates. This is all just for fun, so please enjoy!

“Hello Mudblood.”

The voice rasped in her ear, a soft chuckle following the words.

Hermione squeaked and shifted to try and break loose from the hands holding her against the wall. In response, the hands tightened, his body pushed up against her, his knee moving between her legs.

“I know what you are Granger”, he whispered into her ear, a hand coming up to stroke her hair, never touching her skin. “Who knew that the solution to all my problems would be you.”

He pulled back to stare at her, silver eyes flashing and a smirk on his face. 

Hermione fidgeted again, trying to break free of his hold, “Let me go Malfoy! I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Ah ah, there’s no point in lying, little mudblood. I suspected when we touched the other day, but a quick letter home confirmed my suspicions. Let’s double check the results shall we?” He smiled cruelly as his hand moved towards her face.

“NO! Please Malfoy, Please! Don’t don’t do this, you don’t understand.” She tried to shrink back into the wall to avoid his hand.

“Oh, I do understand, probably more so than you.”

He placed his hand on her cheek and Hermione gasped as the connection kicked in and the buzz started. She tried to pull back on the flow, to stop the connection and glared at him.

“Now, now, none of that.” irritation flashing across his face. His hand gripped the side of her face harder, and Hermione felt a surge come through the connection, and squealed at the power that flowed into her. 

Draco tensed his jaw, grunting and closing his eyes as his head fell back, “Yes, there it is.” a throaty chuckle coming forth. He brought his head back down to stare at her, forcing eye contact as he continued to push his power through the connection.

“Can you feel that Granger? Do you feel my power forcing its way in?”

Hermione gasped at the sensations as the buzz turned to a vibration she could feel all over her body, the trickle at the base of her neck turned into a throbbing in her head. 

She felt her muscles clenching, the extra power giving her an energy surge she’d never felt before. The shock started shifting to euphoria, making her gasp again in delight, closing her eyes and letting her head fall back against the wall. She could feel herself getting wet, her lower abdomen twitching as her body started to respond to the surge. 

Draco started grinding himself against her thigh, never letting go of her face, he leaned forward toward her ear again.

“You feel that? That is true power you’re feeling, trickling through your veins. However much you deny it, this is what you want, what you need. Did you even know this was what happened when you shared magic? No? Let me show you more.”

Hermione felt another surge push forward, making her scream as a blinding light flashed behind her eyes, and her body throbbed with an unexpected orgasm. She could faintly hear Malfoy roar his completion as his grinding sped up before changing to a staccato rhythm as he came down from his own high.

His hand shifted away from her face, catching her hair in his fist and forcing her to look at him again, both panting as their heart rates calmed. 

“You’re mine mudblood” he sneered, he opened his mouth to say more but was suddenly thrown away from her, falling to the floor in the middle of the corridor, and allowing Hermione to slide down the wall with a sob.

“Keep your filthy hands off her Malfoy”, Harry roared as he stood in front of her, Ron jogging up just after Harry to stand next to him.

“Stay out of this Potter, Granger and I were just having a nice chat.” he stood up, brushing himself off and sneering in their direction. “No matter, I’m sure we can continue this conversation later.” He swung around, marching further down the corridor and away.

Harry spun around and knelt down beside Hermione, noting the glazed look, tears running down her face.

“‘Mione, are you ok? What happened, what did he do to you?” He moved his hand to touch her shoulder, but suddenly her eyes focussed and she pulled back from him.

“DON”T TOUCH ME!” she screamed, trying to curl up into herself.

“You know I’d never hurt you.” His eyebrows drew together.

“Merlin Harry, what happened to her?” Ron was looking between the two of them.

“I don’t know. Ron, go and get McGonagall, tell her it's an emergency.” Ron nodded and ran off towards the Transfiguration classroom.

Hermione had curled into a ball and was sobbing quietly, covering her head with her hands. Harry knew better than to try and touch her again, so sat on the floor next to her, trying to be a soothing presence and hoping Professor McGonagall showed up soon.

The clacking of Professor McGonagall's heels could be heard in the corridor. They appeared around the corner, and her eyes widened in surprise.

“Oh my stars, what has happened here?” She sped up and came to crouch on the other side of Hermione.

“We don’t know Professor, she won’t tell us anything. We found her pinned against the wall by Malfoy and intervened, he’s gone now.”

“And what exactly are you all doing out of class?” she looked sternly at the two boys.

“That’s my fault Professor,” piped up Ron from where he stood. “We were lining up to go into our class when I realised that I’d borrowed Hermione’s quill, and wanted to catch her and give it back. As we were walking to catch up, we heard her scream so Harry and I ran to help.”

Professor McGonagall nodded, “Ok, well we need to get her to the infirmary. Mr Potter, would you be able to help me walk her there?”

“We tried Professor, she wouldn’t let us touch her.” Harry looked at his friend sadly, he’d never seen her so look so small and broken.

“Very well,” she looked down at Hermione, softening her voice, she spoke quietly to her. “Miss Granger, we need to move you somewhere safe. Would you be willing to move to the infirmary?”

A muffled noise and a slight nod of the head was her only response.

“Thank you, would you be able to walk there with myself, Mr Potter and Mr Weasley escorting you, or do you need help?”

A hiccup came from behind the hands before they shifted away to show Hermione's swollen, and tear stained face. She looked up at Professor McGonagall, with scared eyes, before looking around at Harry and Ron.

“I’ll walk” she croaked quietly. She used her hands to push up from the floor, and then to pull her robes more tightly around her body, wrapping her arms around her torso like a security blanket, and her head down with hair falling in front of her face.

Without thinking, Professor McGonagall went to put her hand on Hermione’s back to help guide her down the corridor, but Hermione shifted away from her hand “DON’T!” she yelled, “ I’m sorry Professor, please don’t touch me.”

“My apologies, Miss Granger, I wasn’t thinking. Please come with me and we’ll get you settled.” She moved her hand back down to her side.

As a group, they walked down the corridor, taking a protective stance that circled Hermione as they went.

********************************************

Professor McGonagall stood to the side of the infirmary watching the tiny body of Hermione Granger curled up in one of the beds. The blanket placed over her sleeping form almost swarmed her.

She looked at Harry, “I’m assuming Miss Granger has told you of her new found abilities?”

“Yes Professor, we have been doing a few tests in the spare classroom to understand them better.” He smiled sheepishly, not wanting to give too much information.

“Have there been any problems? Have any of the experiments caused an adverse reaction in her?” 

Harry shook his head, “No, we’ve had a few occurrences of the connection being too strong, but she had started to figure out a way to control the flow of power between us. We had been planning to tell Ron tonight and try out other ideas.” 

Professor McGonagall nodded thoughtfully. “You said it was Mr Malfoy who had cornered her today?” An affirmative nod from Harry. “Is there any way he could be aware of her abilities?”

“I don’t think so,” his forehead wrinkled in concentration, “oh wait, on the first day, Hermione accidentally touched him and she said there was a brief connection, but nothing much. I wouldn’t think that would give anything away, though, not if he didn’t know what to look for.” He looked up at Professor McGonagall hopefully.

She hummed quietly, considering this. “Mr Malfoy is from an old family, there is a chance some of the knowledge has been retained and passed down. Professor Dumbledore and I will need to have a conversation with him to establish what he knows.”

They both turned to look at Hermione’s sleeping form.

“I don’t think I need to remind you that we have to keep her safe, Mr Potter?” she turned her head slightly and raised an eyebrow at him.

“No Professor, I’ll do everything I can to help her through this. Ron and I both will. We can’t let her get hurt again.” He looked sadly at his friend, his heart breaking for her.

“Very well, I will leave you all to get some rest, make sure you are back in the common room for curfew Mr Potter. I will talk to you and Miss Granger again once she is awake and we can establish what happened.”

“Thank you Professor.” he glanced up at her, smiling in thanks. She smiled back sadly, and with one last look at Hermione turned and left the Hospital wing.

Harry walked slowly over to the bed of his sleeping friend, noting Ron was dozing on a chair in the corner.

“Oh ‘Mione, what happened to you?” He placed his hand on her sleeved arm and stroked it carefully, making himself comfortable in a chair to start his vigil. 

  
  



	6. Deja-vu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is still enjoying this story. I’m trying to keep chapters coming at a reasonable pace so that you don’t have to wait too long.  
> As usual, thank you to AstraBlack for proofreading my text and being there for a good natter.  
> Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter stories or characters. They are all the property of J.K Rowling and her associates. This is all just for fun, so please enjoy!

Hermione blinked awake, trying to process where she was. A sense of deja-vu washed over her as she realised she was in the hospital wing again. She tried to get her thoughts in order and remember why she was here. A wash of memories flooded in; the corridor, Malfoy, the power rush, the high. Her face flushed with shame and a sob escaped her mouth before she could stop it. 

Scuffling reached her hearing from nearby before a voice she recognised spoke softly.

“Hey ‘Mione, I’m glad you’re awake.”

She turned her head slightly to look at the sad, gentle eyes of Harry as he sat down in a chair next to her bed.

“Oh Harry…” she managed before her face crumpled and the tears came in earnest.

“Shhh, it’s ok, you’re safe. I’m so sorry that this happened to you.” he carefully stretched out a hand, ready to pull back if she moved away. When she didn’t he put it on her shoulder and gave a squeeze of reassurance while making calming noises to her. It wasn’t long before her sobs turned into gentle sniffs and she moved to sit up a bit.

A clearing of a throat made them both look over to the curtains surrounding her bed.

“I’m sorry to disturb you Miss Granger, but I must undertake some quick medical tests now that you are awake.” Madam Pomfrey said gently, waiting for Hermione to nod her agreement. Reassured that Hermione was ok with this, the matron came forward and did some general health check spells to confirm that everything was physically alright. When she started writing notes on a chart she glanced up at the pair, “I’ve informed Professor McGonagall that you are awake Miss Granger, she should be along soon.”

“Thank you” Hermione said gently, earning a kind smile and a nod from the healer before she went back to her office.

“Oh, what time is it?” she looked at Harry in a panic.

“Classes are over for the day, it will be dinner in an hour.”

“I’ve missed the whole day?” she looked incredulous. 

“‘Mione, I think you have a reasonable excuse to miss class today.” A quirk of his lips showing he was trying not to chuckle at her panic.

“Harry, NEWTs are important, we can’t just skip class all the time. Have you gone to class today?” She looked at him accusingly. 

He had the grace to look sheepish, “No, I wanted to be here with you so there was a friendly face when you woke up. I did make Ron go though.” He hoped that would give him brownie points.

“Hmphh” is all the reply he received, and a general look of displeasure.

They heard the door creak open before the clack of heels heading in their direction could be heard.

Professor McGonagall walked around the curtain and glanced quickly at Harry before settling on Hermione.

“Miss Granger, I am pleased to see that you are awake. I’m afraid I must talk to you about what happened earlier today if you feel that you are ready to discuss it?”

A quiet sigh came from Hermione and Harry patted her arm.

“It’s fine Professor, I need to talk about it.”

“Thank you. Would you prefer to discuss this in private, or are you happy for Mr Potter to listen?”

“It’s fine, I would like Harry to stay.”

“Very well, please tell me what you remember of your confrontation with Mr Malfoy this morning.”

Hermione took a calming breath before explaining how he had confronted her in the corridor before grabbing her face and forcing his powers through the connection. By the end of her description she was shaking and pale. Harry had removed his hand from her arm for fear he would leave a bruise, he was clenching his fists tightly, controlling the urge to go and hunt down the blonde.

Professor McGonagall looked more and more concerned as Hermione described her reaction to Malfoy’s touch, eyebrows drawn together in a deep frown by the end of the story. 

“Thank you Miss Granger, I’m sorry to have made you re-live such an appalling situation. I promise you that Mr Malfoy will have a meeting with myself, his head of house and the Headmaster this evening and will be suitably punished for his actions. The Headmaster has managed to find an expert on Conduits who is willing to come here to talk to you, sadly he’s not available for another month, but has, however, sent some texts for you. I will give them to you tomorrow morning at breakfast.”

Hermione felt a small amount of hope at having key texts to aid in her research, even if she was mildly irritated that she wouldn’t get much more adult support until this expert appeared.

“Thank you Professor, that will be fine.” The Scottish witch gave a small nod.

“Professor? Is there a chance we could ward the classroom we use for practice so that uninvited students can’t access it?” Harry piped up from his chair. “It’s just, if we want to store these books in there, and are concentrating on Hermione practicing her powers, we may not realise if a student comes along and tries to watch.”

Professor McGonagall grimaced, she could see his point.

“I will see what I can organise Mr Potter. I understand your concern, and agree that further measures could be put on the room. I will talk to the Headmaster about appropriate warding.”

Madam Pomfrey came around the curtain to join them, glancing at the Professor before looking at Hermione. “Miss Granger, all your results are normal, and I’m satisfied that with a little more rest you will be absolutely fine, physically speaking. If you would like to return to your dorm room tonight I am happy to release you after dinner, but, I would like you to come and see me before breakfast for one last check.”

“Thank you. Yes I would like to go back to my dorm. Harry can escort me if that’s ok?”

She looked at the matron and Professor for confirmation. They seemed satisfied with the idea.

“Mr Potter, you should go down to dinner, Miss Granger will be eating up here. You can come and collect her once you are finished.” Taking that as his dismissal, he gave Hermione’s arm another squeeze before thanking the two adults and heading out towards the great hall.

Silence reigned for a moment after he left before Professor McGonagall cleared her throat.

“Miss Granger, your reaction to Mr Malfoy today is very concerning. In your experiments with Mr Potter did you experience anything like it?”

Hermione shook her head, “No Professor, there was a pleasant buzz once we had the connection under control, but nothing like today.”

“I understand this may be an uncomfortable question, but I’m afraid I must ask. What are your feelings for Mr Potter? Is the sort of response you had today something you would be amenable to with the right person?”

Hermione blushed, mortification causing her breath to hitch and a slight stress headache to start.

“Professor, Harry is my best friend. I’ve not thought of him in those terms, mainly because it’s not something either of us have really thought about. If we’re talking about trust in those circumstances, I would trust him and Ron to help me if a difficult situation arose. They would never spread gossip around and would never push me beyond anything I wanted.” she ended fiercely. 

Professor McGonagall had the grace to look uncomfortable for having asked.

“Thank you Miss Granger. While I suggest you continue, carefully, experimenting with your powers alongside Mr Potter and Mr Weasley, I would suggest that you keep this reaction in mind. You may have to consider how far you are willing to experiment if this circumstances should reoccur. Misunderstandings, expectations and relationship shifts can do serious damage to a friendship. I would not want to add to your current pressures by putting your close friendships in jeopardy.”

“Thank you Professor, I will keep that in mind.”

“Very good, please come to me if you have any problems. I will let you know the outcome of our conversation with Mr Malfoy.”

Hermione thanked her again and watched her take her leave of the infirmary, before slumping down in her bed and scrubbing her face with her hands. This seemed to be getting more and more complicated. She mulled over her relationships with Harry and Ron. What would she do if she had that reaction while touching either of them. A blush crept up her cheeks again. She imagined that Harry would try to be understanding, but Ron would probably be a babbling mess while he tried to figure out what had just happened. That boy was clueless, but she loved him just the same. A tray of food appeared on the table next to her, and she sat back up properly so that she could eat. No point in borrowing trouble from tomorrow, let’s see what the rest of today brought first. 

  
  



	7. Talks and Interventions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies this is slightly later in the day than I normally post. This week has gotten away from me a bit, plus I had a riding lesson this morning, and in some sort of smut cliche certain areas are quite bruised after a load of groundwork without stirrups (apologies for the TMI!)  
> Anyways, here is Chapter 7. Thanks to AstraBlack for proofreading as normal, and working through some canon intricacies that needed to be put straight!  
> I hope that you all enjoy the chapter, and thank you for continuing to read the story!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter stories or characters. They are all the property of J.K Rowling and her associates. This is all just for fun, so please enjoy!

Harry came into the infirmary to collect Hermione once he’d finished his dinner and they quietly strolled back through the corridors towards the common room.

He glanced towards her before clearing his throat.

“‘Mione, I’m sorry things were so awkward after what happened during practice. I feel like it was my fault that the ferret managed to grab you today. If I hadn’t been so distracted, maybe we would have noticed that he was following you.” He felt incredibly guilty for what she had gone through, and was worried that she wouldn’t trust him to continue practicing.

“Harry, it wasn’t your fault. I should have been more aware of my surroundings too. I had self-defence lessons over the summer as my parents worry about me going into the city on my own. I could have protected myself, but he took me by surprise and I just froze. Seems like those lessons were for nothing.” She finished sadly, shaking her head.

“I’ll understand if you want to stop practicing with me for now”. Hermione’s head shot up to glare at him. 

“Don’t you dare, Harry James Potter! I need you, now more than ever, to be there to help me. Yes, we’ll have Ron helping too, but I need both of you. Please don’t beat yourself up over this.”

Harry nodded, and gave a half smile to Hermione, both continuing on down the corridor.

“So, how do you think Ron is going to feel about my new abilities?”

Harry smirked at her.

“I’m not sure, he might be a bit jealous, it’s yet another thing you can do that he can’t. I think he’ll find it cool too though.”

“Well, as long as he doesn’t revert to his idiotic tendencies we should be fine.” She rolled her eyes and came to a halt outside the portrait.

Harry opened the door and gestured for her to go in before him.

The common went silent when they walked in, news had obviously got around about the attack. A blush started to creep up Hermione's neck to her face at everyones stares. The silence was broken by a booming voice attached to a ginder body cutting through the crowd of people.

“‘Mione, thank Merlin you’re back! Are you ok now?”

A quiet chuckle from behind her indicated that Harry was trying not to laugh. The tension in the common room was broken and people started going back to their tasks, although a few people in their year kept a close eye on the pair, obviously concerned for Hermione.

“Calm down Ronald, I’m fine. Thank you for helping earlier, it was appreciated.” she gave him a small smile and they all moved to some comfortable chairs in the corner of the room where they could talk without interruption.

“Yeah well, you know Harry and I are always here to protect you from death eater scum like him.” A food package seemed to appear out of nowhere and the sentence was finished by the ginger shoving something into his mouth.

“Thank you Ron, Harry and I do need to talk to you about what's going on though.”

She leaned in closer so that they could make the conversation more private. Ron stopped chewing and just sat there, staring between Harry and Hermione, not sure where this was going. After a minute, he chewed a couple more times, swallowed loudly and cleared his throat.

“Umm, OK. Am I going to like this?” He looked vaguely concerned, looking to Harry for guidance.

“It’s fine Ron, but what Hermione and I need to tell you has to stay secret ok? You can’t tell anyone, not even your family.” Ron nodded vigorously.

“Promise”

Hermione’s shoulders relaxed a bit, looking at Harry who nodded that she should go ahead.

What happened next was 5 minutes of explanation, interspersed with some interspersed occasionally with some surprisingly insightful questions from Ron. When she’d finished, he huffed, leant back in his chair and ran his hand through his hair.

“OK, so your power is to boost our power?”

Harry groaned and put his head in his hands, Hermione sighed.

“Ronald, while I can do that if required, that is not something I’m just going to be doing for everyone, so don’t even go there!” she glared at him.

He held his hands up in defence, “OK, OK, sorry I asked. I just wanted to figure out what the point of it was.”

“The point at the moment is for you and Harry to help me practice using it and learning to control myself. If you don’t feel you can do that, then we can carry on without you.”

“No! I do want to be involved, I’ll help. It’s just a bit weird right? Like, why didn’t I know that people like you existed? I’m a pureblood, surely we should know about this stuff?”

Hermione rolled her eyes.

“Professor McGonagall has said that the knowledge of this has mostly been lost. I imagine it’s something that’s just gone from the stories your family passes down.”

Ron grunted and crossed his arms, looking irritated.

“Well, obviously the ferret knew!”

“We don’t know that for certain Ron,” Harry chimed in, trying to calm him down.

“Why else would the git touch our Hermione! He knew what he was doing, he just wanted her power for himself!” His face was slowly going a shade of red to match his hair as the indignation of Malfoy’s actions started to occur to him.

“Calm down, regardless of what his plans were, the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall are talking to him this evening. Hopefully they’ll put a stop to his harassment, and we’ll find out what he knows.” Hermione said soothingly.

“Won’t stop him telling daddy though will it,” the redhead snarked.

The three sat in silence, all feeling concern for what the outcome of the Malfoy incident would be.

**********************************

Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk, looking at the Malfoy heir over the top of his glasses.

“Lemon drop?” he offered, waving his hand towards the bowl.

A sneer was all he received in response from the boy.

Severus Snape lurked at the back of the office glowering at having been dragged up here for an unnecessary meeting. So what if Draco had scared the little mudblood a bit, she was a jumped up know-it-all who could probably do with a small fright now and again. He looked over at Minerva who seemed to be trying to decide who deserved her glares more, Draco or himself. She seemed to finally settle on Draco after once last glare in his direction.

“Now, Mr Malfoy, we called you here to discuss the incident this morning with Miss Granger. Professor McGonagall informs me that you physically assaulted her and left her extremely upset.”

Draco scoffed at the pair of them, “I did no such thing. She was already upset when I got there, but when I tried to help her she tried to shove me away. She touched my hand when she pushed and zapped me. After that I don’t know what happened, the next thing I know, I was in the corridor and Potter and Weasley were shouting at me.”

The scottish witch spoke up from her corner, “So you never intentionally moved to touch Miss Granger’s face, or force contact with her in any way?” She sounded skeptical as she asked.

“I believe Mr Malfoy has already informed you of what happened today Minerva, I don’t see why we should have to rehash the story just because you failed to understand his response.” Severus drawled from the back of the room, arching an eyebrow at her in challenge.

Albus gave them both a significant look, indicating they should be quiet, before looking at Draco with a serene grandfatherly look on his face.

“Mr Malfoy, did you think it odd that a connection with Miss Granger caused a charge to go between the pair of you.”

Draco sniffed at him in derision, “Not particularly Headmaster, I don’t tend to think about the goings on of the Mu…” an eyebrow raised in his direction and a throat cleared from the back of the room. “Muggle-born here at the school. I don’t really spend any time interacting with them. If Granger has some weird muggle thing going on, I want no part of it.” He shrugged his shoulders and looked away from the headmaster, pretending interest in the room about him.

“Very well. Mr Malfoy, the stories we’ve received from Miss Granger, Mr Potter and Mr Weasley contradict your own, but as we cannot use Veritaserum on minors there is nothing I can do to force any of you to tell me the truth if you are not willing. I can only hope that the party in the wrong will feel remorse for their actions and decide to change their ways.” He glanced at the two heads of houses. Minerva looked ready to spit nails, while Severus had a smug expression on his face.

“Regardless, I will have to give you all 2 nights detention with your head of house for being in the corridors while you should be in lessons. In future, Mr Malfoy, I would prefer you go and get support from a teacher if you find a student who is unwell in the corridor as opposed to trying to help them yourself.”

“Of course Headmaster, may I leave to finish my work?” as he spoke he moved to stand up, brushing off his robes.

“Of course Mr Malfoy, I wish you well with your studies.” he inclined his head to Draco and Severus and watched as they both departed his office. Once they had gone, he sat back in his chair with a tired sigh, watching as Minerva moved to take the seat the boy had just departed.

“You don’t believe that rot do you?” she asked in a disgusted tone.

“No Minerva, I do not. Sadly, unless we can catch him in the act, there is only so much I can do. I do agree with you though, I fear he has figured out Miss Granger’s secret, which means that his father will know. We cannot allow the dark to gain control of her, Riddle would use her as a weapon.” 

“Well then, what are we going to do? We can’t just sit back and hope that everyone ignores what she is?”

Albus found himself feeling old these days. So much had happened in his time before and during Hogwarts, and this felt like another problem on top of an already wobbly pile. He popped a lemon drop into his mouth and sucked thoughtfully.

“There are only 3 weeks until the Easter holidays. I think that we should send Miss Granger, Mr Potter, and Mr Weasley to Grimmauld Place for the break. They will be safe there and it will allow them to continue their practice under the supervision of Sirius and Remus.”

Minerva nodded in agreement, her posture relaxing a bit at the idea. This was going to be a long few weeks, but hopefully by the time they travelled home for the break, Miss Granger would feel more confident in her abilities.

“Thank you Albus, I think that is for the best. While I remember, I was asked by Mr Potter if we could enhance the wards around that room they are using to stop other students from disturbing them?”

The Headmaster nodded absently, mind already on other things.

“Yes, Yes, I will make the relevant adjustments.”

Realising that was all the response she was going to get, Minerva stood and walked to exit the office, glancing back to see Albus staring out of the office window deep in thought. Knowing there was nothing more she could do for now, she turned and left, making a mental note to keep a closer eye on her trio of cubs.

  
  



	8. Suspicions and Concerns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, here’s another chapter for your reading pleasure!  
> Much love and hugs to my awesome beta AstraBlack, and also love and hugs to everyone who is leaving me kudos and kind comments, you’re all amazing.  
> There won’t be a second update this week as I’m away for the rest of the week with my family, but I will be back as normal next week. Apologies in advance!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter stories or characters. They are all the property of J.K Rowling and her associates. This is all just for fun, so please enjoy!

Draco followed Professor Snape down the hallway towards the dungeon quietly fuming about the meeting with the old man. He couldn’t wait to get rid of him and clear the way for someone with sense to be in charge of this place. In front of him he saw his godfather come to a stop and turn back towards him. Before he could say anything he was pushed against the wall, dark eyes glaring at him.

“You stupid, stupid boy! What in Merlin's name do you think you were doing?” Severus growled at his godson, watching his eyes widen slightly in fear. Good, the boy needed some sense knocked into him.

Draco's hand came up to try and shove his arm away, but it wouldn’t budge.

“She’s just a stupid mudblood, I should be able to do what I want.” he responded petulantly. 

Severus released him from the wall with a slight shove.

“Yes, and painted a target on your back for your troubles.” He sneered down at his best friend's son. How Draco had been sorted into Slytherin he would never know. The boy was far too impetuous for his own good. All he received was a scoff and an eye roll for his troubles.

Draco turned and paced the hall slightly, thinking about whether he should tell his professor about the information he’d found out. Coming to a decision he swung around and stormed towards the silent figure watching him.

“She’s the solution we’ve been looking for.” His eyes were bright with excitement and mild obsession.

Snape sneered at him in disgust.

“Miss Granger is intelligent, yes, but do you truly think she’d help you? You’re more of a fool than I thought.”

“No, you don’t understand. I checked with my father after the issue in your class the other day. She’s a conduit!” he waited for the information to sink in and saw realisation dawn on the Defence professors face.

Silence reigned in the corridor for a moment before he looked back down at his protege. 

“You mean to use her powers to boost your own? It could work, but Potter will be watching you. You’ve played your hand too early and from the questions Dumbledore was asking, they suspect you now.”

Draco felt a stab of concern in his chest, he knew that his godfather was right, but he didn’t want to admit it.

“Perhaps we can intercept her when she gets off the train?” 

Severus shook his head. “No, they will have people in place to protect her. The headmaster wouldn’t want anyone getting near his golden boy or his new weapon.” At his godsons raised eyebrows he explained.

“Yes, weapon. That is what she is to both sides now. She has the power to end this war, it’s down to which side gets her now. You need to stop being so obvious, keep to your original plan, do not engage with the mudblood. We need them to relax and think she’s safe here. Once they take their eyes off her we will swoop in and remove her from their control.”

Draco nodded, but his eyebrows furrowed as he considered the girl herself. 

“You know she won’t help us, even if we take her?”

A smirk came to his godfather's lips at that.

“It’s a good thing we don’t need her to agree with us then isn’t it.”

With that he turned and stalked towards his office, the blonde slytherin watching him thoughtfully. 

**************************************************************

Hermione, Harry and Ron were eating breakfast the next morning when Professor McGonagall came up to them.

“Good morning. The Headmaster would like to see the three of you in his office once you have finished your breakfast. The password is ‘Bubble gum’.”

The three shared a look before Hermione looked back up at the animagus. 

“Thank you Professor, we will head up there directly.”

Their Head of House gave them a small nod before turning and walking to some other students to deal with issues.

They waited quietly for Ron to stop shovelling food into his mouth before standing as a group and heading towards the Headmasters office.

They missed the grey eyes watching them from the corner of the room.

Taking the stairs up to Professor Dumbledore's office they saw him waiting behind his desk expectantly. Upon seeing them, he gestured to the three seats lined up before crossing his hands in front of him, smiling surenly. 

“Good morning, I hope the three of you are well?” He queried in his normal grandfatherly tone.

The students shared a glance before Harry spoke up.

“Well, we’re as good as can be considering what happened yesterday with Hermione Professor.” He gestured towards his friend who was sitting quietly on her chair, trying not to draw attention to herself.

“Yes, Miss Granger, I am very sorry to hear about the incident yesterday. I hope you have recovered from your ordeal?”

“I have, thank you Professor, I am lucky that Harry and Ron came when they did.” She responded gently.

“Indeed, your friendship is wonderful to behold, and is a wonderful example of what others should aspire to.” He looked between them, the grandfatherly twinkle in his eye.

“That is actually what I wished to discuss with the three of you today. Professor McGonagall and I talked to young Mr Malfoy last night, and I’m afraid that his story contradicts your own Miss Granger.”

Harry moved to interrupt and defend his friend, but before he could make a sound, Professor Dumbledore raised his hand to stop him.

“I know that you wish to defend your friend Mr Potter, but it is her word against his and that makes it very difficult to adjudicate this. Now, I believe the best option is to continue on as we are and I will alert the staff to monitor his behaviour and ensure he does not bother Miss Granger any more.”

“But Professor, Hermione could just give you a memory of the incident. I’ve seen that pensieve you have, that would prove that he attacked her!” Harry was furious that it looked like the ferret would get away with this.

“Now my boy, the pensieve is not for settling schoolyard arguments, it is a serious device used for research and legal proceedings. If I were to use it every time there was an argument in this school over who did what, I’d never have time to use it for anything else. I believe that it would be best to put this behind us and look towards the future safety of Miss Granger.”

“HE ALMOST RAPED HER!” Harry yelled angrily, standing up and slamming his hands on the headmaster's desk.

A small sob escaped from the corner seat where Hermione had curled up into herself again and was quietly crying into her hands. Harry immediately pulled back and rushed over to her seat, putting his arms around her shoulders. Ron moved over to sit next to them looking concerned.

“Can’t you see, Professor? Malfoy is a danger to her, he knows and he’s got something planned, I know it.”

“Harry, my boy, I think you are looking too much into this. I am very sorry for what Miss Granger has gone through, and all the staff will be very understanding of her experience, but you have no proof.” Harry and Ron looked at him incredulously. 

“We cannot condemn Mr Malfoy for something we are not certain occurred, and from what he has stated, the touching of her skin was accidental. He now understands the risk and I’m sure he will not do it again.” 

The boys scoffed as they continued to comfort their friend. 

“I believe the three of you should make your way to class now, there is nothing more we can do right now. Miss Granger, if you feel the need to rest for a while this morning I am happy to provide you with a note to excuse you from morning classes. I would advise you to remain in your dorm room if you choose to do so.”

“Thank you Professor, I will be fine. I am with Harry and Ron this morning so I have no concerns about my safety.” The Brunette responded quietly, brushing the tears from her eyes and moving to sit up straight again. Harry remained by her side, hand on her shoulder in comfort.

“Very well then. I advise you all to be cautious, but do not concern yourselves with Mr Malfoy, I don’t believe he will cause you any further trouble.” He stated in dismissal.

The students stood, thanking the headmaster before leaving the office and moving to the corridor outside.

“I can’t believe he believed the ferret!” Ron said, far too loudly.

“Ron, be quiet.” Harry hissed, gesturing for them to follow him further down the corridor.

“I agree with you, but Malfoy has too much power still, and Professor Dumbledore has been focussed on Voldermort in our lessons.” He turned to look at his friends.

“‘Mione, you can’t go anywhere on your own ok? We need to keep you safe, and regardless of what the Headmaster says, I think the git is up to something.” Hermione nodded in agreement.

“We just need to prove that he’s plotting something. I’ll keep monitoring him with the map, and see if we can figure out what’s going on. Now come on, we need to get to class.”

The three trooped down the corridor heading to their classroom, hoping for a more positive day.

  
  



	9. The problem with experiments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay in posting chapters. The Bank holiday threw my internal calendar off!  
> As usual, much love to my Beta AstraBlack. I hope everyone enjoys the chapter!  
> Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter stories or characters. They are all the property of J.K Rowling and her associates. This is all just for fun, so please enjoy!

The three students settled down at the table with their books. It had been a long day of classes, but with Ron on board, they felt that more discussion and experiments could be done in the evenings now.

“‘Mione, are you sure you’re ready to test your powers again so soon?” Harry looked at her with concern.

“It’s fine, we need to practice.” She brushed him off, putting her bag on the floor and fussing with her notebook.

Harry and Ron shared a look of concern, the redhead giving a shrug to the brunette, as if to say it was up to her. 

Hermione huffed, before standing and scooping up her notebook and quill to move over to the cushioned area. The boys shifted to follow her.

“I think tonight I should try a connection with Ron. Harry, I’ve tried a connection with you a few times and it will be interesting to see whether it feels different with different people.”

Ron looked confused, “but didn’t it feel different……” he ground to a halt as Harry glared at him over their friends head. Clearing his throat he looked at her apologetically, “Never mind…”

“To answer your question, Ronald, I didn’t really have time to consider the difference at the time.” She gave him a dead stare before looking back down at her notebook. Harry moved next to him and gave him a light smack to the back of the head.

The pair sat down to face their friend and await further instructions. After a few seconds she looked up and placed her hand down between herself and Ron.

“Now, I’ve done this with Harry already, and as we learnt last time, it should be for a short period the first time, 5 seconds. Then we’ll slowly increase the number of seconds we’re connected.” The redhead nodded at her to show he understood. As he moved his hand to put it on hers, she pulled back quickly, shaking it out and looking at him sheepishly. “Are you sure you’re OK doing this? I don’t want you to feel obliged just because Harry did.”

“Merlin ‘Mione, yes, I’m sure. It didn’t do Harry or you any harm, let's just get on with it.” He tried to hide the impatience from his voice, but the edge was clearly there.

Hermione scrunched her face and closed her eyes for a moment, obviously building her courage before moving her hand forward again to touch his.

The connecting buzz was immediate, and Ron’s audible intake of breath echoed around the silent room.

He’d never experienced anything like it, an intense buzz that started in his fingers and slowly crept up his wrist. Just as the feeling started to get intense he felt it level out and soften to a gentle current travelling up his arm. He started to find it soothing and felt tingles travel down his spine as the sensation continued to flow up his arm. Just as he started to let go and relax fully into the feeling he felt Hermione’s hand move from his and his eyes opened wide. He’d not even realised they’d closed.

He looked around and saw his friends staring at him in surprise.

“Are you alright?” Harry was looking between the pair of them in concern.

“Did that feel OK?” Hermione was just staring at him.

“Yeah, that was amazing.” He sounded awed. “I mean, wow, ‘Mione, that felt brilliant.” He gave her a bright smile. Her brow furrowed as she listened to him before glancing over at Harry.

“He didn’t feel that different than you, but his reaction seems to have been different. I pulled back like I did before, but you didn’t get all blissed out like this?” she gestured to Ron who was still sitting with a smile on his face.

Harry shrugged, “I don’t know, it felt different, but I wouldn’t say it gave me a high or anything?”

“Ronald, snap out of it. Are you ok?” She waved her hand in front of his face and he seemed to refocus at her and his face straightened out as he sat up tall.

“I’m fine, yeah, that was just really cool. Did you want to try it for longer this time?” He asked a little too eagerly.

“Ummm, if you’re sure? We’ll only go up to 10 seconds, and if you start getting all weird again I’m going to break before that.”

“Sure, sure, that’s fine. Let’s try again and I’ll focus this time.” He put his hand down in the middle and looked up at her expectantly.

She glanced over at Harry who grimaced and shrugged a shoulder, tapping his wand with his hand as a sign he’d intervene if necessary. Hermione gave him a small smile before turning back to Ron and reaching out to touch him again.

The connection started again, but Hermione made the effort to pull back on her side of the connection to try and minimise the flow as much as possible. She still felt the low vibration of their power connecting and watched as Ron’s eyes drifted shut again, a slight shudder going through his body. She was surprised by how much it was affecting him, since there was minimal power transferring between them, but as she watched another shudder move through his body she decided to break the connection before he became overwhelmed. 

As she tried to shift her hand from his, the grip changed and suddenly he was holding her wrist tightly, a surge of arousal travelling through the connection back towards her. She gasped in surprise at the raw sensations coming through from Ron, the tingling starting at the top of her spine again as her eyes drifted closed. All thoughts of breaking the connection were gone, but a garbled noise broke through the connection before Ron’s hand was suddenly tugged away from her own. As the connection closed, she took a deep breath in and looked around to see Harry stood between the pair of them, wand out and facing Ron who was on his back on the floor, an obvious bulge in his trouser area.

Harry’s head turned to look at her, checking how she was doing. Hermione tried to get her breathing under control, her hand coming up to her chest in a soothing gesture, before she nodded at him to show she was fine. 

“What the hell was that??” came the confused voice of their friend from his place on the floor.

“That’s what I’d like to know.” came the snarled response.

Hermione shifted to stand up from the floor and brushed herself off, before moving to stand next to Harry. She was still slightly shaken and leant slightly into his solid form.

“‘Mione, what was that?” Ron asked beseechingly, moving to sit back up and crossing his legs to try and hide his erection. 

“I don’t know Ron. I realised that you were getting too deep into the sensations again and tried to take my hand away but you grabbed it and pushed some of your feelings back to me. It felt a bit like what Malfoy was able to do when he touched me yesterday.”

An angry red flush traveled across his face, “I’m nothing like that Ferret!”

“Of course not Ronald, that’s not what I meant.” she responded angrily. “The point that I was trying to make was that it seems that the connection allows for some level of emotional awareness between the people touching. I could feel your, ummm, emotions” She gestured towards his trousers, and his ears reddened to match his hair as his hands moved to cover what remained of his erection.

Harry stood watching the discussion, before sighing and lowering his wand and putting it away in his pocket. Rubbing the bridge of his nose he moved to sit down in one of the arm chairs.

“Ok, so we know that the connection can trigger certain reactions in the people you touch. Did you feel a response on your side?” He couldn’t quite look her in the eyes as he asked, and a blush started to stain her cheeks at the question.

“Well, I could feel what Ron was feeling, and I guess that did trigger a response on my side as well.” She looked towards the floor and picked at some lint on her jeans.

Ron had perked up slightly at hearing her answer, and a smile spread across his face.

Harry rolled his eyes at his friend and focused on the blushing girl on the floor.

“I’ve said before, if you’re not comfortable continuing with this, we can stop.”

“No! It’s fine, this is important, and we’re all mature and aware it’s for academic purposes. It’s just nature isn’t it.” She looked between them hoping for agreement. 

Ron fiddled with his shoelace while Harry rubbed his face in his hands, before huffing and looking at Hermione.

“We are ‘Mione, but I want to put my cards on the table now. I know I had a reaction when we were connected, and I apologise for that.” He didn’t notice the sharp look from the red head. “However, I can’t guarantee I won’t have that reaction again. That’s not to say that I think of you like that, but I’m a teenage male and it’s going to happen.”

She nodded in understanding before they both glanced at Ron.

“What he said.” was all they got in response.

The pair rolled their eyes at their friend's antics, Hermione was already starting to regret getting Ron involved, but it was too late now.

“Shall we do some research then? McGonagall got me some books to look through that could be helpful.” She shuffled through her bag to retrieve the texts.

Harry stood and moved to the table and chairs in preparation while Ron moved off the floor and sidled over to her.

“Look, ‘Mione, I’m sorry about grabbing you, I didn’t mean to force you or anything.” He gave her a sad puppy face and she signed in resignation.

“It’s fine, as I said, I knew it was a risk, but you need to get better control of yourself all right?” she gave him a firm look and put her hands on her hips, channeling her inner Professor McGonagall.

He nodded his assent and moved with her towards the table, digging food out of his bag to help him through the next hour. He suspected he was going to need it.


	10. Crossing the line

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late night (here in the UK) post for me.  
> I’m a bit nervous about this chapter, as things are starting to heat up a bit for our friends. Thanks to my Beta AstraBlack for checking it over and allaying my fears.  
> I hope you are all enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it. Without further delay, I present Chapter 10!  
> Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter stories or characters. They are all the property of J.K Rowling and her associates. This is all just for fun, so please enjoy!

Strolling down the corridor the next day, a familiar blonde head bobbed into view.

Hermione tensed, waiting for the inevitable confrontation. Harry moved forward in a defensive stance, Ron coming to stand beside her on the side that Malfoy would pass. Much to their surprise, he continued on past her with his two stooges in tow, although he caught and held her eyes as he passed. Hermione suppressed a shudder of fear at that look, she knew that he wasn’t going to let this go any time soon.

“You alright ‘Mione?” Harry turned to look at her, giving her a visual check over.

“Yes, I’m fine. Let’s just keep going, I’m starving and we don’t want to miss lunch.”

In response, their red-headed friend increased his pace, encouraging them forward towards the Great Hall.

Once seated, they all started taking food from the plates in front of them.

As Hermione reached forward to grab a sandwich, her bare hand brushed up against Ron’s, causing her to squeak and jerk back as the short shock travelled up her arm. Looking up at him in disbelief she opened her mouth to ask what he was doing but was interrupted by his hurried response.

“Sorry, Sorry! I’m not used to this yet, I didn’t mean to touch you.” He held his hands up to gesture peace, causing her to huff and shake her head.

Beside her, Harry glared at him before rolling his eyes and looking back at his food.

Neither noticed the slight smirk on the red-head’s face as he rubbed his hand against his thigh under the table.

*****************************************************

That evening, the three settled at their research table to discuss the plan to move forward.

“I think we need to up the pace of the experiments, we’ve been taking it slow, which is understandable, but at this rate it’s going to be ages before we truly understand the impact of long term exposure to my touch.”

Her friends stared at her across the table, before Harry spoke up.

“I’m not sure ‘Mione. We’ve only done 10 second connections, and look what can happen when we do that! This could go really wrong.”

“Or, it could go really well!” came the voice from the other chair.

Both of them turned to look at the ginger. 

“What? It could. Maybe she just needs to push through whatever this is, and once we’ve been connected for a bit longer everything levels out?” Both pairs of eyes continued to stare at him. “Or not? Look, what’s the worst that could happen? You said it last night, we’re all mature here, we know what the potential consequences might be, but so what? We’re friends, stuff happens.”

Harry scoffed and pushed his hand through his hair.

“While I understand what you’re saying Ronald, if we were going to do that, I’d want to do it in private, not with an audience, even if it’s just one other person.”

“Well, OK, that’s fine. Harry can just come back later yeah?” He looked at his friend for support. In response he received an incredulous look from the brunette.

“Well actually, I’d rather try it with Harry the first time.” she responded weakly, feeling slightly embarrassed that they were discussing this at all.

A hand slammed down on the table and she looked over to see her best friend staring at her in shock. 

“It’s true, I trust you more than anything. I know you wouldn’t take advantage of the situation, and you wouldn’t go talking about it around school.” 

His face softened and he smiled slightly at her words. Before he could answer an angry voice interrupted.

“What about me then? Do you not trust me?” The anger was showing on Ron’s face, flushing his cheek. He clenched his fists on the table as he glared at her. “I thought we had something ‘Mione, out of the two of us, which one of us was it that you fancied? But no, golden boy gets to try this first too!”

“It’s not like we’re just scheduling a sex session Ronald. Honestly, what’s gotten into you? This isn’t about sex, or a relationship, this is about me trying something out that could potentially damage our friendships if it goes wrong. Forgive me if I want to do it privately with my best friend.”

“Oh, and what am I? Chopped liver?” he retorted, standing up and grabbing his bag.

“Lay off her Ron, you’re being a twat.” 

“Sod off Potter! Yet again, you’ve taken something from me. I don’t even know why you bothered getting me involved if you couldn’t trust me enough with this Hermione!”

With that he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The pair stared after him in shock.

Hermione turned to Harry, tears in her eyes.

“That’s not what I meant at all. Oh Merlin! I didn’t mean I wanted to cut him out of this entirely.”

“I know, he’s just being stupid. He’ll calm down in the morning, don’t let him get to you.” He moved across to the seat next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

“I knew this would change things, and I’m so sorry for making you guys have to deal with this. I don’t want to lose your friendship, but I worry that our relationship won’t be the same after all of this.”

She leant her head against his chest, comforted by his steady breathing.

“It won’t ‘Mione, but I’m ok with that. I’ve never thought of you in that way, but if you’re going to experiment with this sort of thing, who better to do it with than your best friend?”

She sat up and looked at him, warmed by his kind smile.

“You’re right, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather trust with this than you. And Ronald when he’s not being a total asshole.” 

A quiet chuckle from Harry was the only response she got.

“Well, as much of a prat as Ron was tonight, he did have a point. I think we need to push through with the connection and see what happens.” She said in a business like manner, picking up her notebook and quill again.

Harry cleared his throat and stood up, gesturing towards the cushions in their normal place on the floor.

Hermione stood, and moved over to take a seat, while he followed behind.

Once they were both settled on the cushions an awkward silence enveloped the room.

Clearing his throat and fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt Harry looked up.

“So, how long were you thinking we should test this time?”

Looking down at her notes, the brunette considered the results.

“I think we should bump up the time a bit. We know I can control the flow, it’s the reaction that is causing the issue now. Shall we say 30 seconds, and we just allow the reactions to occur?” She blushed as she finished talking.

He nodded, putting his hand out on the floor as normal, and shifting himself to sit more comfortably.

“Whatever happens will stay between us ‘Mione, I promise.”

She threw him a grateful look, took a deep breath and placed her hand on his.

The connection was immediate, travelling up her arm, and she heard her partner’s intake of breath, showing he’d also felt it. She used the control she’d been developing to pull back on the flow, allowing it to trickle between them as a steady pulse.

The sensation washed over her, flowing up her arm, into her spine and tingling down her back. She shivered as the feeling continued, and heard Harry shift slightly.

After what she guessed to be around 10 seconds, the first flush of arousal travelled through the link, making her tremble. She could feel the pulse of the connection in her chest now, and travelling to throb in her abdomen. 

She heard a muffled groan come from opposite her, and another rush of arousal travelled through the connection. She gasped and felt herself starting to become wet as the sensation continued. She shifted on the cushion slightly, trying to gain some friction, biting back a moan of her own as the movement seemed to make the need worse.

“Fuck, ‘Mione”

She looked up to see Harry, eyes closed and jaw clenched as he fisted his shirt with his spare hand. His arousal was obvious in his trousers, and he shuddered, trying to keep himself in place. She bit her lip, watching him was turning her on even more.

He gasped, eyes opening to look at her. She was almost overwhelmed with the rush that came through the connection, eyes closing and head rolling back as she let out a loud moan “Oh god”, and ground against the cushion.

Harry's hand shifted and gripped hers tightly, even as she felt it shaking.

“Shit” The whispered half gasp came out just as a final surge travelled through the connection. The shift pushed her over the edge and she cried out as a blast of raw power rolled between them, filling her up and leaving her shivering. She moved her hand away from his and wrapped her arms around her stomach.

Breathing heavily she opened her eyes to look at her companion. He looked in a similar state, knees drawn up towards himself to hide the result of their link.

Their eyes connected and they both let out breathy chuckles.

Suddenly, Hermione’s eyes went wide and she checked the timer they’d placed on the floor. 

“Umm, so we kind of lost track of time there a bit.”

“How much?” he glanced at the device.

“That was just over a minute.” She grimaced.

“Shouldn’t the alarm have gone off?” 

“Well, yes, but apparently we ignored it. It’s one of those ones that stops after a little bit.” she sighed, making a note to consider a different sort of timer.

“I’m just going to go and clean up…” Harry gestured towards his lap. She nodded politely and turned towards her book to make notes.

She heard him shuffle to the corner of the room by the table and mutter the cleaning charm on his trousers. Grimacing, she realised she should probably do something similar, but decided to wait until she was in the dorm.

After a minute, he moved back towards her and sat in one of the arm chairs.

“This won’t change anything, I promise.” he looked at her earnestly.

“I know Harry. We agreed what happened here stayed between us. I can’t say I’m surprised at our reactions, but it was incredibly quick.” she looked at the timer again, then looked up at him in a panic, “not that I’d know...” she stuttered out quickly.

He huffed a laugh, “In any other situation I’d be quite ashamed at my performance.” he quirked an eyebrow at her and she snorted.

“I think our reactions fed off each other and that made us orgasm quickly.” she choked over the word orgasm, feeling weird discussing this with her best friend.

“Do you feel any different after an extended connection? I know you said you didn’t feel that different before.”

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment.

“Other than the obvious, I do feel more buzzed than normal. Like I could do a full days of classes all over again without feeling drained.”

Hermione nodded, making a note of his response. 

“So it does seem like it has ‘recharged’ you a bit?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s a good description.” He nodded. “Hold on, let me try something.”

He stood and pointed his wand away from her.

“Expecto Patronum”

The stag that sprung from his wand glowed brightly, seeming even more substantial than normal as it trotted around the room.

“Wow, that does seem much stronger that normal, even by your standards.”

Harry nodded mutely as he watched it walk over and snuffle at her head.

“I think we can confirm that our connection gave you a boost then. I wonder whether the impact increases or extends the longer we’re touching.” she gasped as an idea popped into her head. “What would happen if you cast that while we were connected!” 

She looked at him eagerly, eyes wide as she considered the potential.

“I think we’ve done enough for tonight, don’t you?” he knelt down next to her. “Don’t push this too much ‘Mione. You know Professor McGonagall warned you about what could happen.”

She grimaced, glaring at him for a moment before her shoulders dropped in defeat.

“Ok. But we’re coming back to this tomorrow.” She waved a finger at him to make her point.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.” He chuckled standing up and moving to collect his bag from the table. Hermione copied his movements, putting her own things away before walking with him towards the door to the classroom.

“I won’t tell Ron what happened.” His words were quiet as he glanced at her.

She nodded, putting her hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

“I know, but if he asks, don’t lie OK? That would just make it worse.”

“He’ll come round ‘Mione. He always does.” 

Gesturing for her to go ahead of him out the door, they both moved into the corridor and headed back to the common room, each lost in their own thoughts.

  
  



	11. Unfortunate meetings

Hermione moved ahead of Harry to go through the portrait into their common room. Scanning around she spotted Ron in a corner glaring at a wizarding Chess set. Hearing the door close he glanced up and their eyes connected. His eyes analysed the slight flush on her cheeks before switching to his best friend. A snarl crossed his features before he slammed down the chess piece, stood and stormed off to the boys dorm.

A hand appeared on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

“He’ll come around ‘Mione, don’t worry.”

She looked over her shoulder at the kind emerald eyes of her best friend and gave him a weak smile. 

“Thanks. I think I’m going to go up, I’ll see you in the morning.” she answered softly, walking slowly towards the girls dorm.

Harry stood in the common room watching his bushy haired friend depart, sighing quietly. 

Walking towards the fireplace, he sat heavily on the sofa and stared into the flames. These last few days had been surreal and he was worried that things were only going to get more complicated once the Ministry knew about Hermione. He understood that they’d had to be told, but he could predict their response to the information. She wouldn’t get a moment's peace, and if (or more likely when) the information ended up in the wrong hands, she’d never be able to go about on her own again.

He leant back into the sofa and brushed his hand through his hair. He needed to talk to Sirius about this. He knew he was still convalescing at Grimmauld Place after the fight at the Ministry. He was lucky he managed to twist away from the veil at the last moment, but the cutting curses to his chest and thigh had almost killed him anyway. Thankfully some quick thinking from Lupin and a few blood replenishing potions had saved the day, but he wasn’t up to full strength yet. Harry hoped that talking the problem through with the pair of them would give him some ideas to take back to Hermione. He should check that she was OK with him confiding in them first though.

He continued to stare into the flames and let the quiet murmuring of the common room calm him as he lost himself to his thoughts.

**************************************

The next morning, Hermione dressed and hurried down to the common room to meet Harry. On arriving, she realised that she had perhaps rushed her preparations, and settled at a table in the corner of the room to look through a book while she waited.

Immersed in her book, she didn’t notice the figure walking up to the table until she heard the heavy body drop down on the chair opposite and clear his throat. Looking up, she saw Ron sat looking at her expectantly, so she marked her place and put the book on the table before returning his gaze.

“‘Mione, I wanted to apologise for how I was last night.”

She continued to stare at him silently, and watched him squirm slightly in discomfort.

“I know I was a bit of a prat, but you must know I’ve liked you for ages. It really pissed me off to hear you talking about doing stuff like that with Harry. That should be me that you’re experimenting with, not him!” His face started to flush with irritation, as he waited for her to respond.

When she remained silent, he forcefully tried to prompt her. “Are you going to say anything to me? I’m pouring my heart out to you, and you’re not saying anything!”

She sneered in response. 

“If you’ve liked me for so long, what was all that with Lavender then?”

He groaned. “Don’t bring up Lavender again, we’ve had this conversation. It was an experiment, nothing more. You’re the one that means something to me, not her.”

“You’ve got a funny way of showing it then.” She huffed, standing up and stuffing her book in her bag. She’d meet Harry in the Great Hall, but she needed to get away from the ginger menace.

Before she could move away, he grabbed her arm.

“Look, please listen to me. I’m sorry, OK? Everything going on lately has been crazy, and then with your new abilities, and Malfoy causing problems, it’s all just been getting to me. You need someone with you through this right? Why not use this as a way to start moving things forward for us? I know you like me. Harry can help us with the research and then when it comes to the testing, it can just be us.” He sidled up close to her, staring at her intensely. 

She yanked her arm out of his hand and glared at him.

“A relationship is about more than just the physical Ronald. If you don’t get that, then I don’t think it would work between us. You are a good friend, but I don’t know what’s got into you lately, but I’m starting to wonder if it was right to trust you with this.”

The flush travelled up to his ears, and she could tell he was ready to explode. She was suddenly thankful that the common room was pretty much empty.

“That’s it then? Suddenly you get all these new powers and you’re too good for me? You’ve told me before that Harry is like a brother to you. A brother you get off with apparently, what kind of fucked up person does that make you!?” 

She backed up, trying to avoid the spit coming from his mouth as he yelled at her. At the same time, she was fighting the urge to smack him in the nose for his words.

Before he could step forward again, a body stepped between them, and she was suddenly looking at the back of her best friends head.

“Ron, what in Merlin's name are you doing?”

Harry was trying to sound calm, but she could hear the irritation in his voice.

“I was trying to apologise to Hermione, but she’s being a bitch about it all.” Ron gestured in her direction.

“That’s not what it sounded like to me. Look, I know this has been a weird week, but you need to back off and calm down. ‘Mione needs our support right now, not a bunch of baseless accusations.”

“BASELESS! I saw the pair of you walk in last night. I know what you guys did when I left the room.” 

At this point, people were quietly trying to shuffle through the room and avoid the trio in the corner. However, Ginny had been trying to tiptoe through as Ron yelled out and froze, staring at Harry with shock on her face, before turning to look at Hermione with disgust.

“You cow. You knew I liked him, and you fuck him anyway.”

The group spun around to watch as the red head stormed out of the common room, slamming the portrait door behind her.

A sniff came from Hermione as she stared after her friend, before turning back towards the boys, despair in her eyes.

“‘Mione…” Harry tried to step forward, but she covered her mouth with her hand to control the sobs and charged back up to her dormitory, leaving the boys staring after her.

The brunette turned back to his friend.

“What is your problem Ron. Why have you got a stick up your arse about this?”

“She was meant to be mine.” He spat.

“Well, at the moment you don’t deserve her.” Stopping all other discussion he turned his back on the red head and stormed out of the common room, unable to stand any further conversation with the idiot right now.

———-

Back in the common room, hands shuffled through bags until some parchment and a quill was found. Smudgy writing was hastily scrawled, before the letter was folded and an address was scrawled on the front, location,  _ “The Burrow”. _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay this week. University is about to start up again here, and I’m rushed off my feet between prepping for the new term and my kid about to start school for the first time. From now on, I will only be putting up one chapter a week, which I apologise for, but can’t be helped with everything else going on.  
> As usual, thanks to my Beta AstraBlack for checking through and having a good moan with me about certain characters. That being said, I hope you continue to enjoy the story.  
> Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter stories or characters. They are all the property of J.K Rowling and her associates. This is all just for fun, so please enjoy!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all, apologies for the major delay in publishing the next chapter. University started again and with all the stuff going on, everything got on top of me and I had a bit of a meltdown. I’m going to try and get back to posting a chapter a week, but I ask that you please be patient with me.  
> Saying that, I hope you enjoy this chapter. X
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter stories or characters. They are all the property of J.K Rowling and her associates. This is all just for fun, so please enjoy!

Hermione stayed in her room for the rest of the day, curled up beneath her duvet. She was just starting to drift off when she heard her dorm mates stomping back into the room. Hidden behind the curtains that she’d drawn around her bed, she lay quietly as she heard them talking amongst themselves.

“Can you believe Granger?” came the disgusted voice of Lavender.

“You don’t think it’s true do you?” Parvati responded.

“I can’t believe the two of you are gossiping about this. It’s none of your business.” Faye’s angry voice moved past her bed and over to the corner of the room.

Hermione listened to the slamming of trunks and the shuffling of clothing as the girls sorted themselves out.

“She totally used Ron, of course it's my business!” She heard Lavender angrily retorted.

Under her covers, she grimaced, thinking that the pair of them probably deserved each other.

“And she knew that Ginny liked Harry. She stabbed her supposed friend in the back too. Poor Harry didn’t even know that there was a better option out there for him than the beaver.”

Hermione rolled her eyes at the twin’s response. What was the use, they’d all thought badly of her for years, that was never going to change, so she might as well ignore it.

Deciding that she didn’t want to hear any more, she cleared her throat overly loudly, and made a point of shuffling her bed coverings, as though just waking up, before swinging the curtains back.

The other girls in the room froze and stared at her, mortification passing over Parvati’s face as she realised they might have been overheard.

Hermione gave them a cursory glance before straightening her clothes and turning to walk out of the room. Before the door closed fully she heard Lavender’s voice float through.

“What a bitch.”

It shouldn’t have stung, she knew what that girl was like, but it was still a direct hit. Straightening her shoulders she walked down the stairs to the common room, where silence reigned as she appeared. The rumour mill had obviously been working overtime during her absence today.

“‘Mione!” Harry stood up from a chair in the corner and moved towards her.

His hand came to her shoulder and he looked at her in relief. A slight tug on her shoulder and an indication of his head had her following him out of the common room and towards their sanctuary.

***************************************************************

Harry had been worried about her all day. It wasn’t that she’d missed breakfast, or lunch, it was that she’d missed classes, which only happened when the worst had occurred.

Seeing her appear in the common room, eyes red from crying, and looking incredibly unsure of herself in the oppressive silence of the common room had him ushering her out as quickly as possible.

He hadn’t missed the whispers that had followed him around all day, and he was sure that the herd of girls that had headed up to her dorm had probably made her realise that the information had spread, but he dearly hoped that she would ignore it.

They walked quietly down the corridor towards their room, turning a corner to find Professor McGonagall walking towards them.

“Mr Potter, Miss Granger. The Headmaster would like to see you in his office, if you’ll follow me.” She gestured to them before turning and walking back down the corridor.

The pair shared a look of confusion, before Hermione gestured to the portraits and Harry realised their progress had been watched and reported on.

***********************************************************************

Walking in to the Headmasters office, they saw him sitting behind his desk with a small smile. Professor McGonagall walked ahead of them, coming to stop at the edge of his desk and turning to watch their advance.

Professor Dumbledore gestured to the two seats set out before the desk and waited while they got settled.

“Lemon drop?” He asked as he took one for himself.

They both shook their heads, eager to get on with whatever this meeting was about.

“No one ever accepts them you know.” They looked at him confused.

“The Lemon drops. No one ever has them when I offer them. I don’t know what people think is wrong with them, but I can assure you they’re very tasty and I get them from this little sweet shop in Edinburgh.” Dumbledore looked down at his Lemon drops sadly and placed the bowl back on the desk.

A throat cleared next to him and he glanced at his colleague to see an eyebrow raised in his direction.

“Yes well.” He sat up straighter and looked at the pair of students in front of him.

“I have heard some disturbing reports today about activities that I certainly don’t expect from two of my  _ usually _ better behaved students. I would like to discuss the fact that according to some of your peers the pair of you have been undertaking certain lewd activities in the classroom we kindly provided you with for research.”

The pair flushed in embarrassment at having to talk about this with their teachers.

Recovering first, Hermione spoke up.

“This is my fault Professors. Harry and I have been undertaking research in the classroom, however, we discovered that there were certain..” she stalled, and cleared her throat. “Certain side effects to a connection that we had not previously anticipated.”

“And would these side effects be the reason these rumours are spreading around the school?” came the arched reply from their transfiguration teacher.

“Yes Professor.” the pair responded in tandem.

“Miss Granger, I recall asking that any unforeseen side effects were reported to me, alongside any problems?”

Her favourite student looked like a kneazle caught in a bag of wool. Before she could answer, a hand came down on her clothed arm. Harry spoke in her defence.

“Professor, I think I hold responsibility for that. It came as a surprise to ‘Mione and I, and we tried to figure out ways of avoiding triggering it, but nothing was working. I didn’t even tell her originally that it was an issue. I don’t think she truly realised how affecting it could be until Ron reacted like he did, and then everything sort of snowballed from that. Nothing major happened until last night, and then Ron blew up this morning and now we’re here.”

A sigh came from behind the desk, and a tut from their transfiguration professor.

“Be that as it may, you should have informed us when this was discovered.” came the firm, but kindly voice of their headmaster.

“We are now in a situation where this could become knowledge outside of the castle, and personal relations of this nature are a serious issue within the walls of Hogwarts. I’m aware that your circumstances are different than most, but I’m afraid that your trust in Mr Weasley may have been misplaced, Miss Granger. I understand that it is he who started this story, and while he will be punished for the way this information has reached the staff, he was not wrong in highlighting that this is not something you should have been doing.”

Hermione internally grimaced. This was it, this was how she was going to get finally expelled. Not for one of their crazy adventures, or for helping a wanted criminal escape justice, but for having almost, not quite sex with her best friend.

“Thankfully, for the pair of you, we have a solution.” The headmaster glanced up at his colleague and saw her slight nod.

“We had planned for the pair of you to stay with Sirius and Remus over the Easter holidays so that you could be supported and monitored by them while you research. In light of the usual punishment for this being a suspension, we will hereby suspend you both as of today and send you to Grimmuld place early. Miss Granger, a letter will be sent to your parents saying that you are undertaking some extra credit activities over the break that mean you have to stay at school, so please ensure that any letters you send to them corroborate this story. The elves will pack your things and bring them here in 5 minutes or so and you will then use my Floo to go through.” The pair nodded in understanding, and watched as the Headmaster moved around the desk to the pair of them.

“I do apologise for the way this is all turning out Miss Granger, and to you Mr Potter for getting caught up in everything.”

Harry squeezed his best friend's arm. “There is nothing to apologise for Professor, I’m always here for ‘Mione, especially when she needs support.”

He turned to look at her, giving her a small smile, which she returned shyly, tears twinkling in her eyes.

The Headmaster nodded, a proud look on his face as he observed the two.

“Please wait here for the elves to bring your trunks, Professor McGonagall will remain until it is time for you to use the Floo. I wish you both well and will see you at the beginning of the new term.” With that he turned and left his office, leaving the deputy headmistress still looking at the pair with disappointed eyes.

“I will do what I can to control the spread of information here in your absence, but you have left me in a very difficult position.”

They winced at her steely tone. 

“Thank you professor, we really appreciate all your support.” Hermione looked at her, hopeful that her words of thanks would soften the professor's demeanor.

“Yes well, you must be more circumspect moving forward. If this is something that truly cannot be avoided, we will have to find a solution, but be careful who you trust with the truth from now on.” She gave them both one last look before moving toward the fireplace.

Dual pops came from the corner of the room and they saw their trunks had appeared and were waiting to be collected.

They saw Professor McGonagall throw some floo powder in the fireplace before talking to someone on the other side. After a few moments she waved the pair of them over.

“You are expected, and I know that things can get a bit lapse under a certain person's care,” she briefly glared at the fireplace, “but please listen to their guidance and for merlin's sake, behave yourselves.”

They both nodded and hurriedly lined up to use the floo. Harry went first, disappearing in a flash of green.

Hermione started shifting into the fireplace but was stopped by her professor's voice.

“Miss Granger, please be careful. This feature of your powers was unexpected, and relations can lead to situations that we aren’t always expecting, physically and emotionally. Please keep that in mind during your time away.” She gave her student a kind look, but her voice held a warning that the young woman took note of.

“Thank you Professor, I understand and I will try to keep that in mind.”

“Good luck Miss Granger.”

Hermione gave her a small smile and then threw her floo powder down into the grate, calling her location and disappearing in a rush of green flame.

Professor McGonagall sighed as she watched her students leave. This was a total mess, and she suspected it was only going to get worse before this year was over.

  
  



End file.
